


A Strange Haven

by Jumabu



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Kissing, Awkwardness, Eventual Romance, Fileflies, First Kiss, Fish, Guilt, Loneliness, Love, Michael and Uriel have an established relationship, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Rebellion, Sleep, Slow Burn, Some prefall content, The slow burn is for Dagon and Beelzebub, They/them pronouns for Michael and Uriel, Uriel and Dagon fight a lot, Ze/zir pronouns for Beelzebub, she/her pronouns for Dagon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-06-25 02:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 20,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19736410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jumabu/pseuds/Jumabu
Summary: Armageddon, the day on which the Fallen would finally get their revenge, didn’t happen, and the demon that stopped it faced no repercussions. As you might expect, this isn’t sitting well with a majority of Hell. They’re hungry for revenge, and they’ll do anything to satisfy themselves, like execute someone who is in a position of power. Someone like the Prince of Hell. Luckily, Dagon has a plan.——————————————————“If you believe you are in danger then there is certainly something we could do,” Dagon stood, voicing a thought they had been considering for awhile. “You could go to Earth. It would be a secret, the other demons wouldn’t know. You would be safe from any acts of treason while you were there. You could preform temptations... even observe the traitor Crowley, perhaps you could discover how he was able to avoid execution. It would be completely beneficial.”——————————————————Basically Dagon and Beelzebub go to earth, do human things, and fall in love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I’m extremely nervous about posting this for some reason? I really like this ship, but I haven’t posted on AO3 in such a long time and I always end up never finishing stuff because when I think I can handle writing a chapter fanfic, something comes up. I posted this on an amino awhile ago and hoped I’d get some feedback, but I didn’t really get any, so I’d appreciate it from you guys because I’d like to know how I can improve on my writing. I also cannot follow a schedule. So this is basically going to be Beelzebub and Dagon on earth and discovering stuff about the human world and falling in love. If there are things in particular you want them to do, please comment! I’d love more ideas on what they should do! (Also, if the buzzing makes it too hard to read what Beelzebub is saying, let me know and I’ll find a way to fix it)

“Thizzzs is bad,” Beelzebub sighed. At this point, Dagon was the only other person left in a room. She stood in silence, watching Beelzebub pace as ze* buzzed to zirself under zir breath. “They’ve been patient these six thouzzzsand years only because they were promised vengeanzzzce, but now... all of this uncertainty... it’s enough to cauzzzse a rebellion.”

“They are loyal to our Lord,” Dagon assured zir over the echoing of shoes hitting the ground and the droning of tense flies . “If there is a rebellion, it will be crushed, just like all of the others.”

“I am not so zzzcertain,” Beelzebub walked over to zir throne and sank into it with a sigh, zir ensemble of winged pests flickering in the dim light. “They want revenge, Dagon. They’ll find some way to get their anger out. That may mean making an example out of memberzzzs of upper management.”

“You think they would rebel against you?” Dagon knelt on the right side of the throne, flinching for a moment at the wave of curious buzzing that circled her.

“It hazzzs happened before,” Beelzebub rested zir fingertips against zir eyelids and sighed again.

“And those rebellions have been quelled,” Dagon’s nails scraped the throne’s iron armrests. 

“Thizzzs is a different situation entirely,” Dagon knew. While riots in Hell were not uncommon, they had hardly ever been a threat. They normally consisted of a hundred or so dissatisfied demons, and they were normally disbanded the day they were formed, either through the execution of the members or the frighteningly skillful persuasion of Satan or Beelzebub zirself. Ze rested zir head against zir hand, the other one’s fingers drumming restlessly against zir leg. “Nothing like this hazzzs ever happened before. It’s enough to get all of Hell in an uproar.”

“Not me,” Dagon said softly. The words had originally been a thought, and she hadn’t intended to say them out loud.

“I know,” Beelzebub responded, zir reaction to what Dagon had said was unreadable.

“If you believe you are in danger then there is certainly something we could do,” Dagon stood, voicing a thought they had been considering for awhile. “You could go to Earth. It would be a secret, the other demons wouldn’t know. You would be safe from any acts of treason while you were there. You could preform temptations... even observe the traitor Crowley, perhaps you could discover how he was able to avoid execution. It would be completely beneficial.”

Dagon was pacing now, and there was a hint of amusement in Beelzebub’s eyes as ze watched her. Beelzebub had always preferred Dagon to the other hanger-on demons that surrounded zir. The others were bootlickers, ze knew that. They hoped to gain some sort of advantage through Beelzebub, but not Dagon. She was loyal not because she hoped she would be rewarded, but because she considered her loyalty a reward in itself. It was almost sweet, nearly pathetic, but it was refreshing more than anything.

“Do you think our Lord would agree to such an arrangement?” Ze asked her, watching her face twist with thought and determination.

“I will propose the idea,” Dagon offered with only a few seconds of thought. “It’s worth a try.”

One of Dagon’s flaws was that she hardly ever stopped to think. She was reckless, and she considered herself expendable when it came to the benefit of certain people. It would probably be her hamartia*. 

“No,” Beelzebub rose and made zir way over to Dagon. “You will not.”

“If you are in danger-“

“You will not,” Beelzebub interrupted. “He has enough on his mind, he will not be pleazzzsed if you pezzzster him about trivial thingzzzs.”

Satan was an unpredictable creature, and after what happened with Armageddon, Beelzebub would allow Dagon to talk to him unless he requested her presence himself. Another thing about Beelzebub and Dagon was that they knew one another in heaven, when they were known as Seraphiel* and Dagiel*. In fact, Seraphiel was the reason that Dagiel had decided to join the revolution, but that is another story entirely. Demons don’t have emotional attachments to one another anyways, so it’s hardly worth mentioning*.

“It is not trivial,” Dagon argued. There was something thrilling about doing that, like being pushed underwater by a big wave. Everything is hazy, you’re not sure if you’ll make it back up to the surface. Your heart and your mind both race as adrenaline shoots through them, your lungs start to burn as you hold your breath, but then you’re finally above the waves again. Then you feel that twisted urge to be taken under again, because the feeling of being so close to death is sort of exciting. Except Dagon could breathe perfectly fine underwater and she was practically immortal, so the fact that an unmerciful punishment for stepping out of line was on the table was as close to that feeling as she could get. Her other motivation, other than her loyalty and the strange pleasure she got from such a conversation was that she did not want Beelzebub to die, and that was a very serious possibility. “It is your life.”

“I wazzzs not making a suggezzzstion, Dagon,” Beelzebub growled. Zir buzzing was connected to zir emotions. The more worked up Beelzebub got over something, the more ze would buzz. That only frustrated zir more, and while ze tried zir best to keep it under control, it was almost involuntary. It really pissed zir off, or rather it pizzed zir off. “It wazzzs an order. You will not defy me.”

“It is your life,” Dagon repeated. While Dagon didn’t have any vocal ticks to indicate frustration, she gesticulated* a lot. She wasn’t even aware that she did it, but she had trouble sitting still and having a conversation. She often moved around the room, waved her arms and her hands, and by the time she was done talking she was winded. As she talked, she moved closer to Beelzebub, gestured vaguely towards the window, and placed one hand on her chest before she was finished. “I admit it, I am worried about a rebellion as well, but if there is something we can do... please, my lord. Let me.”

The only sound came from the buzzing of flies and the ringing of tension. Beelzebub planted zir hands on zir hips, then exhaled sharply through zir nose. Ze had not changed zir mind. Dagon was not the only one who thought herself expendable, their Lord would hardly consider her worth his time. But ze knew Dagon would not back down, ze could see it in her eyes.

“I will talk to him,” Ze finally said. Dagon’s shoulders fell in what might have been relief. “But if I am going to earth, zzzso are you.”

“Me?” 

“Of courzzzse,” Beelzebub grinned and made zir way to the door. “Someone might dizzzscover that I’ve gone. I might need protection or extra assizzzstance, and zzzsince you proven yourzzzself to be zzzso loyal, you are obviouzzzsly the perfect candidate.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to get my friend to read this before I published it, but they were busy, so if there are mistakes I’m very sorry. Also, this chapter’s kind of short, but I want to get past the set up and extreme awkwardness as quickly as possible. Also, I am trying to use the English version of things, because I am an American and I know there are different ways of saying things, but sometimes I mess up or I didn’t know a certain thing was said differently in England.

Ever since the creation of the universe, Beelzebub had never intended to be on Earth for very long. Ze had visited quite a few times over the course of six thousand years, usually because they were summoned by a group of intoxicated teenagers. Most of the time ze’d leave as soon as ze arrived, leaving only uncertainty and a slight chill in the air behind them. Ze would occasionally make a scene of throwing things around and having one of the group members shriek and roll their eyes into the back of their head, standard demons stuff, but that never lasted long, either. Four days on Earth was too long. Four days in which Beelzebub was doing nothing except dread the rest of the time, which was undetermined, that ze had to spend on it. 

Ze really hadn’t expected their Lord to approve their request to go to Earth, yet he agreed to it almost immediately. He didn’t really feel like finding a new Prince of Hell if Beelzebub were to be assassinated, after all. So Beelzebub and Dagon were sent to live in a small flat, which had very little furniture. What would have been the sitting area was in the same room as the I stocked kitchen, the only furniture being a chair. There was one empty bed room, a closet that was also empty, and a bathroom, which for some reason had only a tub inside of it.

Dagon was almost always in the bathroom, sitting completely clothed in the tub, which was miraculously always filled with nearly boiling water. She didn’t go up to Earth much, either. In fact, she hadn’t been up to earth for several hundred years until she, Hastur, and—oh, the other demon had told her their name, but she didn’t really care to remember—the other demon had gone to retrieve Crowley, and there wasn’t any water in Hell. Only boiling sulfur. But this was the perfect place for her to lie underneath the surface of the water and recall when she became so stupid.

Beelzebub was very unhappy on Earth, it was obvious, but now that the Lord of Hell said the two of them would go to Earth then they would have to stay there until he said otherwise. Beelzebub had been sitting in the same chair for four days straight, bored stiff. What if ze had been fine all along? Ze had been worried about rebellion, but there was no proof that there would be a rebellion. Dagon had acted completely out of turn and pressured zir into a decision by putting doubt into zir mind. Stupid, stupid, stupid. 

While Beelzebub had met zir fair share of idiots since the creation of the heavens, Dagon was not one of them. In fact, they hadn’t once blamed Dagon for the situation ze was in. Ze had, however, been soaking in confusion and frustration. Ze hadn’t had a proper break in six thousand years, and things ze had been certain of turned out to be untrue. A demon had sat comfortably in a tub of holy water. The earth had not ended in fire and flame. There was no war. The absence of flies was also strange, there was nothing but zir inner thoughts. Neither demon was doing themselves much good by sitting around and overthinking everything. Dagon was the first to come to this conclusion. She sat up, the lungs she had miracled away grew back as she did, and stayed there for a few moments longer. 

She was hesitant to go into the room Beelzebub was in. Something strange had been happening to her ever since she had arrived on Earth. She felt like something inside her was twisting, that was the only way to describe it.* It felt vaguely familiar, but she didn’t know what it was. Her skin and the bath both became dry as she stepped onto the floor, pausing again. Damn it all, she was being ridiculous. It must have been something about the Earth. Dagon tried her best to shake her feelings, then went out the door.

“What izzzs there to do on Earth?” Beelzebub asked the moment Dagon appeared. Beelzebub and the chair ze was sitting in were extremely out of place in the windowless room with orange walls and a dark, wooden floor. The chair, by the way, was the same chair ze sat in during Crowley’s trial. It was a nice chair. “A lot of humans say they never did everything they wanted to in life whenever they die, yet they spend so much time here and have so little to accomplish.”

“I saw a lot of people in a park the last time I was up here,” Dagon approached the wall, which ripples and turned slightly transparent. She watched clusters of people hustle down the sidewalks and cars glide down the street, reflecting sunlight off of their metallic bodies, and the the wall swelled back to its original, opaque orange. “We could go there.”

“Would you like to?” Beelzebub asked. Those words manifested into an invisible weight, which hurtled itself directly into Dagon’s chest. Now, how could a simple question overwhelm someone so easily? Take the fact that Earth intensified the anxieties that Dagon was unaware she had and combine that with her believing she made a mistake by suggesting they go to Earth in the first place. Did she want to go to the park? She didn’t know what the right answer was.*

“Would you like to?” She echoed back, hoping she hadn’t been silently considering what to do for a noticeable amount of time. It had been noticeable, and Beelzebub also noticed that her shoulders had gone rigid. Beelzebub knew that Dagon wasn’t handling the recent events any better than ze was. They must have been carrying the same amount of stress and confusion. That realization didn’t come because Beelzebub was empathetic, though. Demons don’t feel empathy, after all.*

“Was it enjoyable the lazzzst time you went?” Beelzebub decided to ask. Dagon would not knowingly make a decision based on what she wanted to do, at least not right now. Very well. Beelzebub would attempt to find out what Dagon thought for zirself, but only because ze wasn’t sure what ze wanted to do either.*

“Somewhat,” Dagon muttered, the two hadn’t made eye contact throughout their entire conversation. “It’s very strange being outside, though. We only stayed there for a few a little while, I can’t really say for sure.”

“We’ll stay for longer thizzzs time. That way you can dezzzcide if you enjoy it or not,” Beelzebub stood up, but zir human formed had forgotten how to do anything other than sit after doing so for the past few days. Dagon grabbed zir by the shoulder before ze could fall back into zir chair. “Thank you, Dagon.”

The two left the flat with Beelzebub walking ahead of Dagon, and neither thought it necessary to lock the door. Dagon felt her insides contorting again, but in a lighter, less violent sort of way. She wasn’t sure what that meant, either.*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *She felt like something inside her was twisting, that was the only way to describe it-Anxiety
> 
> *She didn’t know what the right answer was-Definitely me projecting onto this character, because I get anxious over the smallest things.
> 
> *Demons don’t feel empathy, after all-I think Beelzebub is secretly a sappy son of a bitch but ze gets angry whenever ze feels an emotion and doesn’t know what to do
> 
> *Beelzebub would attempt to find out what Dagon thought for zirself, but only because ze wasn’t sure what ze wanted to do either-Nah, it’s for Dagon. At this point, how Beelzebub feels about Dagon is up to interpretation. It could be attraction, or it could be that Beelzebub just likes Dagon better than the other demons. They’re definitely friends, but demons obviously show friendship differently than humans and demons so they’re weird about it.
> 
> *She wasn’t sure what that meant, either-Pining. Dagon is in love with Beelzebub right now at this point. She has been for a very long time but she doesn’t get it and being on Earth makes their emotions more intense, so Dagon is in love and confused.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write a bit about their time as angels, and I wanted to compensate for the last chapter being short. I wanted these to be separate, though, because grouping them together felt weird. Again, my friend who gives me feedback hasn’t read this chapter. I really, really want to make Uriel and Michael a part of the story. I feel like they’ll all have a good influence on each other, also I love them. Also, I hope I didn’t accidentally write Dagon instead of Dagiel. I caught myself doing it a bunch of times, but I might have missed one.

Love* had existed in Heaven long before the creation of the universe. It was one of God’s greatest creations, which is why she decided build the Earth around it. The angel Dagiel, with hair like a bright, red flame and eyes like the unborn ocean, had been struck by it. The seraphim Seraphiel, who was delightfully sweet and a little mischievous*, had caught her attention. Dagiel was not the only one, of course. Many angels loved Seraphiel, as it was in the nature of angels to love. Dagiel loved many other angels, and many other angels loved her, but it was not the same as being in love with another angel. The archangel Michael loved Seraphiel, but they were not in love with zir. The archangel Gabriel loved Seraphiel, too, and so did Raphael. Seraphiel was the keeper of the Metatron, and so he loved zir as well. Dagiel was not certain the she was in love either*, but she knew she did love Seraphiel. Lucifer also loved Seraphiel, but what became of that is another story. Seraphiel, who was just as bound to love as the other angels, loved all the angels in return.

But as previously stated, being in love was different than loving someone. Dagiel was dancing on the line drawn between the two, and she knelt cheerily in a pond and let the fish that she had helped God create swim by her. Ze made her feel euphoric. Other angels had been and would be in her position, but to Dagiel, this feeling was completely new and could never be replicated.

“Hello, Dagiel,” Uriel, one of the angels who loved Dagiel and whom Dagiel loved*, hummed a greeting before they joined Dagiel in the water. She was higher than the heavens, and Uriel could feel the bliss radiating from her. Their next remark was meant as banter, but Dagiel wouldn’t notice. “Anything interesting happen lately?”

“Yes,” Dagiel was gushing. “I’ve made a new friend. Literally. I created a new kind of fish.”

“Really?” Uriel asked. Every fish Dagiel had ever designed was in the pond where the two angels sat. The size of the pond always grew with the number of fish, and they all peacefully coexisted in the same conditions. “May I see?”

“Yes,” The angel cupped her hands and placed them into the water. When they came back to the surface, a the new fish laid quite contentedly in Dagiel’s hands. It’s body was somewhat small, but it had large, flowing fins and shining scales.* “Is going to make more, ones with different kinds of fins and colors.” 

The one Dagiel held now was a dark, shiny black, but it had all sorts of colors outlining it’s scales and running throughout it’s tail fins. It made Uriel smile, they knew where Dagiel had gotten her inspiration from. 

“It’s lovely,” Uriel said as Dagiel put the fish back into the water, although it did not stray far from Dagiel’s side. “What’s it called?”

“Our Lord has told me not to name the fish as of now,” Dagiel said, her eyes fixed on the water. 

“I see,” Uriel did not ask her why*. “Is there anything else you’d like to tell me?”

“Is there something you like to hear?” Dagiel turned to Uriel, her face glowing brighter than usual.

“I’d like to hear anything you have to say,” Uriel replied. Dagiel smiled and thought for a moment.

“No, nothing right now,” She said. “Maybe later.”

“Fair enough,” Dagiel didn’t want to talk about it right now, and that was alright with Uriel.

“What has Michael been up to?” Dagiel asked, the tone in her voice similar to the one Uriel had when they asked if anything interesting had happened lately. “I haven’t seen them around in awhile.”

“Yes, they’ve been very busy lately. I think our Lord has something great planned for the future,” Uriel was unaware of exactly how great that plan would be. Dagiel hummed in response, then stood to leave the pond.

“I’m going to the garden,” She said cheerfully, her robes and skin emerging completely dry. “Let’s talk again soon.”

Uriel smiled again. Time did pass in heaven, but there were no physical signs of its passing. Angels always knew what time it was, though. Uriel and Dagiel both knew what time it was, it was the time that Seraphiel could normally be found walking around the garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Love-I said it a lot in this chapter, just because I think it’s important. Also, I want it to be clear that the fall didn’t just hurt the demons, it hurt the angels, too. They were friends.
> 
> *Mischievous-I mean this in the most innocent way possible, as in they would lovingly tackle you or hug you but then go completely limp while hanging on as tightly to you as ze can.
> 
> *Dagiel was not certain the she was in love either-Dagiel most definitely loved Seraphiel, but she’s not head over heels in love right now. It’s like when you first find out you have a crush on someone, she’s excited and has her head in the clouds. 
> 
> *Uriel, one of the angels who loved Dagiel and whom Dagiel loved-I’d like to think they were friends, and I’d really like to incorporate Michael and Uriel into this story. These characters deserve more attention than they get, so they’re the main focus in my story.
> 
> *It’s body was somewhat small, but it had large, flowing fins and shining scales-It’s a betta fish! Beelzebub reminds me of one, small, full of rage, and very cute. She hasn’t named them because Adam’s supposed to. I know that technically God creates the animals on the same day as Eve, but I’m just interpreting that as her sending the animals to Earth on that day. Dagiel is the angel of fish, Dagon is a fish, so I say she played a major part in creating them.
> 
> *Uriel did not ask her why-What God says goes, Uriel does not question it all, and at this point Dagiel doesn’t either.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m probably going to stop putting this disclaimer, but spelling mistakes and all that fun stuff are a possibility. I write all of this on my phone in the notes app, and it loves to change things without my permission or knowledge.  
> In other news, I wrote a chapter outline where I put what I want to write about in what chapters. I’ve I don’t get distracted and/or change my mind about anything, there should be around thirty chapters. That’s a lot, but the fact that there’s little Fileflies content is driving me and I feel really inspired! I’ve also never done anything similar to a chapter outline before, I normally wing it because I’m a mess. It’s also 2:22 AM. I don’t know why I only ever write at night? Probably because it’s always quiet and I can never stop thinking and go to sleep. I just finished writing this chapter like five minutes ago. My sleep schedule is wack.

Demons are not used to sunlight or open space, because hell is dim and cramped. That would make sense, wouldn’t it? Dagon felt the sunniness and the headroom in staggering, somehow more so than it was when she was here several days ago. She hadn’t noticed how big the world was, she only ever saw it as a small, plastic globe in her office. She was familiar with all the surfaces and textures used to build Hell, but she never would be familiar with all of the Earth. Well, she might have been had it ended when it’s supposed to, it would have all been ash and much easier to observe all at once. Easier didn’t mean it would be more enjoyable, though. Dagon liked watching the lights shift around everything and changing the hues of the world around her, she liked hearing various sounds coming from every direction, and she liked the feeling of the sun and the wind. 

But even with the natural noises of the world echoing through Saint James Park, there was an unmistakable silence diffusing from Beelzebub. Dagon didn’t know what that silence meant, and it naturally upset her. She thought that it might be a good idea to say something, but she didn’t.

It is also worth noting that Dagon and Beelzebub had no intention of changing the clothes they normally wore, and Dagon did not dull her teeth or hide her scales. A few people had glanced at them as they walked past, as most people are often too polite or not confident enough to make a negative comment about anyone’s outfit, especially if they were complete situations. There were also plenty of people who had their teeth sharpened, and some wore silver, shiny make-up. People wore all sorts of things, and normally no one cared to comment, except a random man who passed Dagon and Beelzebub while walking in the direction opposite of them.

For every twenty or so people who mind their own business, there is a person who makes everything their business. These people are often drawn to each other and get their kicks from offering their opinions, which are actually just insults. These people are shameless, rude, and immature. The more they publicly declare their “personal views” the less valuable their actual opinions become. Chances are, you know at least one person like this. It just so happened that this man was one of those people, and he apparently had little control of his mouth. He addressed Dagon and Beelzebub as he passed.

“Freaks,” People usually act out because they’re experiencing their own personal issues. Other times they do it because they’re assholes. In this gentleman’s case, it was a little of both. Mainly the second one, though. The man really should have learned to put his foot in his mouth before he went around insulting demons. In fact, Beelzebub enjoyed the thought of the man putting his foot in his mouth, and demons do love irony.

Within the same minute that the man had said what he said, he somehow fell backwards, and in his state of shock in confusion he kicked his right foot forward. His shoe also happened to be untied, and so it was hurtled up into the air. The shoe fell to the ground, of course, but it managed to land with the toe of it facing downward, and it lodged itself between the man’s teeth.

“Rude,” Was all Beelzebub said in response. Dagon flashed a smile and glanced over to zir.

“Very clever,” She said. Neither of them decided to acknowledge the man any further, or the few people looking on in disbelief as to what they just witnessed. 

“Are you enjoying the park?” Beelzebub took the opportunity to make conversation. Dagon looked in the direction of the lake, her fingers drumming against her thigh.

“Yes,” She said carefully, eyes flickering over to Beelzebub for a glimpse of zir reaction. “But all we can do is walk, it seems... and sit... and look around.” 

Dagon gestured to the space around her, then looked to her left and away from Beelzebub. Her arms were fixed behind her back, and she was becoming tense again. The two made the unspoken decision to leave the park and start walking down the street in no particular direction.

“I agree,” Beelzebub said, words that made Dagon’s arms immediately cross in front of her waist. “I do like the noise, though. I normally have flies buzzing about all the time, but now I’ve juzzzst heard... silenzzzce.”*

“I’ve noticed that, too. How quiet it is, I mean,” Dagon thought for a moment, their arms not tied together as tightly. Music. Maybe that would make things less quiet.

“It’s weird not having any around,” Beelzebub said in reference to the flies, looking almost disgusted with zirself for saying such a thing. Beelzebub had once been the angel of purification. Being surrounded by things associated with filth was part of zir punishment. Apparently, God enjoyed irony as well. “Haven’t seen a single one since we got here, either, which is strange considering there are trillions of them.”

Dagon had glanced at the sign for a pet store, which probably had ‘Pet’ in the name. She was reminded of a miracle Crowley had preformed that she saw in his records. ‘Removed the glass from all the snake terrariums in a pet store, letting all the snakes loose and causing mayhem.’

“Would you like to go inside?” Beelzebub stopped in front of the store. 

“Well, if you would like to,” Dagon said the words as though she were admitting something. Beelzebub studied her for a minute before gesturing towards the door, as if to say, ‘After you.’ Dagon fidgeted with her hands as she walked on, careful not to walk too far ahead.

“They sell animals here, then?” Beelzebub looked around, a little surprised that such a place existed. Demons and certain animals did have bonds that let them communicate with them. It was much more efficient than the way humans talk to their animals, when a demon spoke to animals, they would react almost instantly. They never had to do what humans called ‘training,’ which was not the act teaching animals to do something, but rather teaching animals a word. Animals could understand demons perfectly well. 

“They must do,” Dagon’s arms were behind her back again, her hands still fidgeting. The presence of the demons seemed to attract the attention of a small, stubby legged dog who was reared back and barking, it’s owner watching a mouse scurry in it’s wheel. Beelzebub shushed it, which caused the dog to cock it’s head and go quiet. At he same time, Dagon had noticed a wall of tanks backed with bright blue. Fish tanks.

“Oh,” This triggered something within Dagon. Her brow furrowed, and she felt weighed down. 

“What is it?” Beelzebub asked, following her gaze and realizing the answer in a moment.

“You know, I haven’t seen a fish since... I suppose since we... well... I created them and I sort of... forgot?” Dagon confessed, her voice soft with reminiscence.

Dagon had not really forgotten her creations. She was partially a fish herself, and that’s not the sort of thing you really forget. She was experiencing what people feel whenever they hear what used to be their favorite song as a kid for the first time in years. They know the tune, the lyrics, they never forgot them, but they hadn’t remembered them until now. Chances are that unlocks another memory, one of a game, a book, or an old friend. The chain goes on and on, and soon you’re sitting in the present while rewatching your past unfold behind a glass wall. 

Dagon had softened, she was sitting in the center of a wheel of emotions and wasn’t sure what to do. Nostalgia is more powerful than most people give it credit for. It’s a blinding force that can strum even the tightest of heart strings. For some reason, she didn’t want to her any closer, until Beelzebub said something.

“Would you like to look at them?” Ze asked. There was a gentleness in their voice, which ze had emphasized to the best of zir ability. Ze wanted her to what she wanted, and for the first time in awhile Dagon understood that. 

“I feel like I...” Dagon took a few steps forward, observing the clusters of colorful tones bunched together in various tanks, and the silhouettes of something dear to her circling around in small cups. “I can’t... I don’t like it...”

“We can leave if you want to,” Beelzebub offered. Dagon took a deep breath, even though she didn’t need to, and sighed. 

“I do,” She lamented. They left, walking next to one another. Beelzebub made a subtle movement of zir hand before they left, so subtle that no one, not Dagon, the patrons, the workers, or the little dog noticed. 

“What?” An employee, who had turned away from the fish tanks for only a moment, had turned back around, then gone pale and wide-eyed. Sometimes, it’s the small oddities that really mess with people. Things that are definitely not how you remembered them to be and should not be. Like if someone dropped a penny and it vanished before it hits the ground. It had no real impact on their day, but it would mentally affect them forever, all be it in a very small sense.* They search for an explanation for it, but find none. They bring it up in conversation from time to time, some people believe the story and others don’t. Where the penny went will always be a mystery. Maybe it went to the same place as all the fish in this particular pet store. The employee looked at the now empty tanks in disbelief.* They hadn’t been empty a second ago. She ran off to tell someone what had happened, but a penny and hundreds of fish are two different things. The chances that anyone would believe her were very slim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *”I do like the noise, though. I normally have flies buzzing about all the time, but now I’ve juzzzst heard... silenzzzce.”-I imagine having a swarm of flies buzzing around you would get pretty loud. Also, Hell is filled with demons moaning and groaning, and I assume you can hear the shrieks if damned souls echoing through the vents. Hell’s probably pretty loud.
> 
> *It had no real impact on their day, but it would mentally affect them forever, all be it in a very small sense-I remember I had one of those pens that could write in four different colors, and one day I found two in my backpack. No idea how it happened, I was sure I only had one. It was wack, but I was in second grade at the time and was mainly excited that I got another cool pen.
> 
> *The employee looked at the now empty tanks in disbelief-The reason Beelzebub freed all the fish is because ze know Dagon would prefer it if they were in bigger spaces. Pet stores are bad about putting fish in too small of a space, especially when it comes to betta fish. They keep them in cups, but they need way bigger. Then they’re marketed as “easy bowl fish” which isn’t right, either. Basically, I’m putting my frustrations with how fish are mistreated in a fanfiction about demons, except Dagon is a fish so it works!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it’s not after midnight for once! I really wanted this to be finished by yesterday, but I got to a part where Seraphiel and Dagiel were in the garden and I just had no idea what to make them say so I decided to give my brain some time to think of things to do, and it sort of helped. I’m not sure if it’s noticable where that happened or not, but it is to me and I feel like it’s all very awkward conversation. I mean, they are awkward, but to me it’s very awkward. Hopefully it isn’t noticable, though. Also, this one’s longer than normal! At least it feels like it is, but that could be because I took like two whole days to write it, I don’t know.

While Eden probably holds the title for Most Beautiful Garden known to man, the garden in Heaven most certainly surpassed it. There was an array of flowers, and entirely new ones were grown every hour or so. The scents mingled in the air, but not in an unpleasant way. The birds cheerfully commented on how nice the design of the newest plant was while pecking at a fruit they had never tried before, luckily none of them were forbidden from being touched. Angels were scattered around, standing like marble statues as they allowed the atmosphere to cradle and refresh them. Soothing colors, floral scents, honeyed fruit, chirruping birds, gentle sunlight, and an overwhelming sense of goodness, the garden pleased all the senses of an angel.

Seraphiel had been sitting on zir knees, watching the grass grow. There had been whispers of something significant coming in the future, something Lucifer, Raphael, Michael, Gabriel, and the Metatron has been discussing with God. While Seraphiel was the highest ranking Seraphim, ze were not at the level of the Archangels or Metatron. It was a matter that did not concern them, Michael had said so themselves, which is what caused Seraphiel to go to the garden early.

“Our Lord is only discussing this with angels of the highest rank,” Is exactly what they had said when Seraphiel inquired about it. “She hasn’t even told her plan to all of the Archangels, and you’re only a seraphim.”

Their face twisted almost immediately when they had realized what they said and how they had said it, but Seraphiel was gone before Michael could explain themselves further. Really, Seraphiel wasn’t upset with Michael. Ze knew they hadn’t meant it as an insult, but ze was still upset at something. 

Seraphiel had been plucking dispassionately at the grass for awhile before Dagiel had made her way into that section of the garden. Dagiel, who always had a sense of wonder and took the time to look at what surrounded her, had not yet noticed Seraphiel. Zir natural impishness had been triggered, and ze chose to forget what happened with Michael for the time being. Dagiel was unsuspecting, and Seraphiel was heaven’s version of a bastard, so Seraphiel had to do something bastard-like, but in a holy way.

Ze made zir way onto the garden wall*, which was being progressively scaled by a thicket of ivy. The seraphim was complete silent as ze took large strides to move across the wall, creeping just behind Dagiel and waiting for her to get closer. All it took was a few steps from Dagiel and a leap from Seraphiel, and the two of them were on the ground. Dagiel’s confusion faded the moment she looked into the eyes of the angel that pinned her.

“Hello,” Seraphiel said it as though they had casually bumped into each other.

“Hello,” Dagiel repeated with a smile. Seraphiel stood and offered a hand to the fallen angel*, who took it and stood with zir. The grass was hardly out of place and their robes were still as white as the day they were made. “You’re here earlier than I expected.”

“Yes,” Seraphiel suddenly remembered zir exasperation. “I don’t really need to guard the Metatron while he’s busy conversing with the Lord.”

“What exactly do you guard him from?” Dagiel asked in a hushed voice. Seraphiel gave her a puckish grin.

“It’s a question I have asked only once and never heard the answer to,” Ze licked zir teeth, as if in thought. “But I have this fire, which I assume will be useful if whatever I’m guarding Metatron from decides to... do whatever.”

Seraphiel snapped zir fingers, and a a small, bright golden flame flickered on the end of their index finger. Dagiel was entranced in the moments before it burned away.

“Apparently the fire is... important... but I’ll be the last to know why,” Seraphiel sighed, and the angels headed for another part of the garden.

“Certainly not,” Dagiel said, but Seraphiel nodded.

“God is apparently planning something big,” Seraphiel was almost sarcastic, their speech mimicking the Archangel Michael. “But it’s not for me to know, yet. I may be the highest ranking Seraphim, but compared to the Archangels I’m unimportant. Perhaps I should stick with writing hymns and keeping my mouth shut.”

“You’re wrong,” Dagiel’s voice was gentle, a little amused. “You’re not unimportant, not in the eyes of God or of the Archangels. I’m sure you’re involvement in whatever this is going to be significant.”

But all Seraphiel had did was buzz zir lips in a way of saying, ‘Doubtfully.’ Dagiel smiled slightly and shook her head.

“If it’s any consolation, you’re not the only one who isn’t involved,” She said. “There are even Archangels who aren’t part of it.”

“I’m not sure I want to talk about it anymore,” The two of them made their way to a section of the garden surrounded by hedges and an assortment of flowers, it was where they usually sat. Dagiel sat and Seraphiel wandered towards the flowers. “Tell me about how you’ve been.”

“Oh, well I’ve created some new kinds of fish,” Dagiel said, her halo glowing brighter, it’s edges seemed to blush a light pink. Seraphiel plucked the flowers from the stem of a golden-pink colored hyacinth in one quick, easy movement of zir hand, and they flowers grew back as soon as they had been picked. “I can show them to you sometime, if you’d like.”

“I would like nothing better,” Seraphiel said genuinely, almost admiringly. Somewhere off in the garden, a nightingale sang a single note, and then stopped. A breeze caused the flower heads to flicker toward’s the direction of the other angel. The first one flew, and then the others followed, swirling around before finally coming to rest in the ground.

Neither of them spoke, the only basked in the glow of the sky above them. Seraphiel regathered the scattered flowers, then sent them off again with a gentle puff of air. This time, rather than falling straight down, they floated of in their own directions to land in different parts of the garden at their journey’s end. 

“Are you still upset?” Dagiel decided to ask. Seraphiel smiled, and zir attention moved from the trail of falling flowers to Dagiel.

“A little,” Ze admitted, zir words as soft and gentle as the flap of an Archangel’s wing. “But not so much anymore. Being around you is soothing, I don’t feel like I should be groveling, yet you don’t feel the need to grovel around me. It’s refreshing.”

The hierarchy did seem insignificant when the two were around each other. They simply were, and without ranks, titles or duties. As Seraphiel had said, it was refreshing. The kneeling seraphim made zir way to Dagiel’s side while on zir knees, resting their head comfortably against Dagiel’s outer thigh. The act made the pink tint bordering Dagiel’s halo become thicker. She could see Seraphiel’s eyes burning with questions and desires, ones that would not be acknowledged. Ze longed to say something, but ze didn’t know how to put it into words. Vexation was gnawing inside zir chest, it it clawed at zir throat every so often in an attempt to get out, but whenever it did ze would grit zir teeth in an effort to suppress it.

“I know it’s hard not to be,” The angel of fish killed her friend as best as she could. Her hand found it’s way to Seraphiel’s dark hair, put it froze once she touched it. Both of them went rigid, as if they were afraid to move. They fixated on different directions, warmth gushing from the places where their bodies met. It was so nice it was almost excruciating, or maybe it was the other way around. Seraphiel was the first to move, ze had jerked forward at the sound of their name being called by someone else.

“Michael,” Seraphiel huffed, a little indignant. Ze rose to zir feet and darted for the hedges, pressing a finger to zir lips as the hedges began to form around zir. Dagiel laughed and shook her head, but played along.

“Hello, Dagiel,” Michael addressed her with a voice as clear and pure as bells. Dagiel was always a little flurried by Michael’s presence, as they were a little stupefying*. She waved her hand slightly. “Have you seen Seraphiel anywhere?”

“Ze should be in the garden,” Dagiel said honestly. Michael’s back turned to zir, Seraphiel began to silently emerge from the bushes.

“Yes, I though ze might be,” Michael chimed. “But I figured ze would be with you.”

“Oh, I see,” Dagiel tried her best to keep her eyes on Michael without seeming too suspicious. Seraphiel was almost right behind them now, a grin on zir face. Ze were plotting.

“Well, if you do see them, let me know?” Michael asked politely and folded her hands. Dagiel nodded, just as Seraphiel had unsheathed zir six wings and wrapped then around Michael, completely engulfing everything above their knees.

“Oh, dear Lord!” Michael cried out in an entanglement of shock and exasperation.

“Seraphiel, I believe Michael was looking for you,” Dagiel said, just as she told Michael she would. Seraphiel retracted and veiled zir wings, smiling innocently at Michael who was Crossing zir arms.

“Could you give us a bit of privacy?” Seraphiel asked Dagiel. “I’ll find you later.”

Dagiel stood, nodded her head to acknowledge her superiors, and then left that section of the garden.

“You came at the worst time,” Seraphiel scolded teasingly once Dagiel had gone. “We were having a very moment, and you interrupted.”

“Oh, forgive me,” Michael rolled their eyes, but then their shoulders sagged. “No, really. I do want to apologize for what I said earlier. It wasn’t right.”

“Don’t do that,” Seraphiel waved them off. “I know you didn’t really mean it.”

“It doesn’t mean I should have said it,” Michael continued. Seraphiel wanted more than anything to talk about how ze felt mistreated, but ze knew ze couldn’t. Complaining and questioning were not angelic conduct, and if Michael held anything dearer than the Lord herself, it was the rules. “I hope you can forgive me.”

“There’s nothing to forgive you for,” Seraphiel sighed, then added, “It isn’t your fault I’m being left out.”

“I know you’re upset about that as well, but you must be patient. You forget that you are part of this plan the Lord has, even though you aren’t aware of it,” Seraphiel was sick of hearing what Michael was saying, ze had heard it all before. Was it supposed to be comfort that zir entire existence had been written for them if they weren’t allowed to know what it entailed? Still...

“Thank you,” Ze was grateful for Michael’s effort to comfort zir.

“I’m only telling you what I know to be true,” Michael said. Everything except that damned plan. They weren’t going to talk about that until God said otherwise, and Seraphiel was beginning to think that wouldn’t happen. “Now, what exactly was I interrupting?”

“That’s a secret of my own,” Seraphiel drifted towards the part in the hedges, beaming like a certain cat which would be created millennia from then. “Oh, I see why God likes keeping them, it’s very fun.”

Michael sighed, but couldn’t purse the smile from their lips. They shooed Seraphiel off and went in their own separate direction. Seraphiel’s frustration was subsiding slightly, although it wouldn’t go completely. Angels were entitled to their feelings, just like people. Although, angels did have to internalize many of them for fear of judgement or punishment, so yes, just like people. Dagiel and Michael were rather good at keeping Seraphiel level-headed, not necessarily because of what they said, but their intent behind it. They were absolute angels, the both of them, in a literal and metaphoric sense.

“Hello,” Another orotund voice called out to Seraphiel, which halted zir.

“Hello, Lucifer,”* Seraphiel returned the greeting.

“Going somewhere?” He asked cordially.

“Yes, to see Dagiel,” The words came with no hesitation, which earned zir a seemingly benign smile.

“Oh, I see,” Lucifer said with a nod, but then his smile faded to a more serious expression. “I don’t mean to pry into your personal matters, but I heard you were upset with the Almighty’s decision to not yet tell you of the Great Plan.”

Seraphiel stared into Lucifer’s eyes, golden and unwavering. Ze did not say a word, nor did ze make a movement to confirm it, and Lucifer had only paused for a moment before continuing to speak.

“Be patient. You are an important piece in the Almighty’s plan,” Lucifer said, an exact summary of what ze had been told before. “That is probably the advice you’ve been receiving, isn’t it? I can offer even better advice, if you’re interested?”

“I am,” Seraphiel replied, nearly monotonous.

“I must warn you,” Each word Lucifer spoke became lower and more hushed as he said them. “Most angels wouldn’t react well to such advice. Some would call it ridiculous, others go far enough to say it’s blasphemous. But I know that you have a much broader mind than most. I still need to know one thing, though. I need to know if you’re tired of being where you are, and if you’re ready to do something greater than what is planned for you.”

The words swirled around in Seraphiel’s head to the point of being dizzying. Those words had been in zir head before, but never once did ze think ze would hear such a proposition. The gnashing feeling ze had felt in zir chest for so long was now eloquently crawling from the mouth of someone else. They were delighted, intrigued, their eyes nearly flamed as their desires were intensified by the thought of them being fulfilled.

“Yes,” Seraphiel said, holding the ‘s’ a big longer than ze had intended. “Tell me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Ze made zir way onto the garden wall-I was gonna say, “Talk about a fly on the wall,” but I’m pretty sure if I did those of you who have been reading and enjoying this fanfiction would no longer read it. Instead, I’m just gonna talk about how I almost did that and beg for your forgiveness.
> 
> *fallen angel- :)
> 
> *Dagiel was always a little flurried by Michael’s presence, as they were a little stupefying-Even though pretty much every character is attractive in the show, (at least in my opinion) I always have thought of Michael as being extremely attractive to pretty much everyone. This doesn’t mean I think everyone is attracted to Michael sexually and/or romantically, just that everyone finds them really good looking to the point they’re almost intimidating.
> 
> *“Hello, Lucifer,”-You guys know that vine where the Monster’s Inc. song is playing and then Big Bird kicks the door of it’s hinges and stands there in complete silence for one unsettling second? That’s Lucifer as soon as Seraphiel turns the corner.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so here are two wonderful things I feel are worth noting.  
> 1.) Anna Maxwell Martin, the actor who plays Beelzebub, plays the lead in a production of Cabaret. I don’t know a lot about Cabaret, but I do like musicals and I have a huge crush on Anna Maxwell Martin. I could only find one clip of a song she performs and there’s no cast album, but it was very good. (I think the song was called Don’t Tell Mama)  
> 2.) Gloria Obianyo, who plays Uriel, has a YouTube channel and has several videos of herself playing the guitar and singing. I also have a huge crush on her, and she was also very good.   
> I thought both of these things were worth noting because they’re both amazing and I love them.

After what happened with the last angel sent to Earth to thwart the wiles of Hell, it was only natural that a trusted angel of high status would be sent as a replacement. For no particular reason, Uriel had been chosen out of the other Archangels for this job. Hell had sent a replacement as well, undoubtedly, and it was Uriel’s job to bring goodness and peace while the demon spread discord. Easy. Should be, at least. Uriel wasn’t sure how an angel could screw something like that up.

It was ideal for Uriel to keep a shop of some kind. People went in and out of stores, people from all over, and they sometimes carried emotional conflict and information with them. It would be beneficial to Uriel, letting them soothe and reassure their anxious patrons or hear stories of strange happenings from others, which could be the work of a demon. Or, they could sit around in the store all day watching people occasionally come in, browse, and sometimes by something. It was a music store, by the way. Uriel knew very little about human music, but so far they had sold valve oil, a record that the buyer ‘hadn’t seen in stores before despite looking for years’, a plastic kazoo, and piano wire. 

One person was in the store, flipping through records while Uriel leaned idly against the counter, when the phone rang. It was a wall phone, attached to the wall behind the counter. The phone rang three times before Uriel had gotten to it, and the voice on the other in spoke before they could.

“Hello?” The caller said quickly. Uriel made a humming sound, knowing who it was before they had answered the phone. It was Michael, calling for what must have been the seventh time today.

“Hello,” Uriel was a little reluctant to respond, but they weren’t not going to answer the phone. Even if they found the will to do something like that, Michael would call back again and again until Uriel answered. If they didn’t, Michael would likely appear in the bookshop in their full celestial form, demanding in an earthshakingly powerful voice to know why Uriel had ignored their calls.

“How are you doing?” Michael asked, as per their routine, at least according to the previous calls they made.

“About as well as the last time you asked me,” Uriel wasn’t annoyed. They really couldn’t be, but they did decide they hated the sound their phone made when it rang.

“Sorry,” Michael said, just like last time, and just like last time, Uriel smiled.

“You worry too much,” They said. “The worst thing that could happen down here to an angel is getting discorporated.”

“That’s not the worse thing,” Michael sounded as if they were going to read out a prewritten list of worst case scenarios. Surprisingly, they didn’t.

“Given how much you’ve been calling me, you ought to just come down here,” It was a genuine invitation, but even though Uriel would like to have Michael in Earth with them, it wouldn’t happen. Armageddon and the failed execution of a demon and angel came with more paperwork than one would think.* It also came with a bunch of meetings, in which Gabriel would pace around in a near panic and say everything with the utmost uncertainty. He had recently found out that everything he’d known wasn’t true, such an event tends to call for a crisis.

“I wish that I could,” Michael hadn’t even directed their words at Uriel, they mainly said it in hopes that someone would hear them and make it happen.

“I wish you could, too,” It was not uncommon for angels to be in relationships. It wasn’t frowned or looked down upon by anyone in Heaven, they were actually celebrated, and yet no one but Michael and Uriel were aware of their own relationship. They hadn’t labeled it, but they did what humans generally did in romantic relationships and had been doing so for nearly two thousand years. They didn’t hide the fact that they were romantically involved, they just acted professional around one another during work and kept their personal business private.* But it was strange not seeing each other for so long, and Michael had a tendency to worry too much about the ones they loved. “I don’t mind the calls so much, but you need to relax.”

“That isn’t as easy as it sounds,” Michael sighed. “I’m swamped with work.”

“If you’re swamped with work, then why are you calling me?” Uriel leaned on the counter again, a huge smile of their face.

“I can work and call you at the same time. Besides, it’s hard to work when I’m worrying and I needed to hear your voice,” Michael’s speech, which was usually careful and articulate, was rushed and frantic. Their stress was palpable, even over the phone. 

“Calm down, love,” Uriel soothed. “I’m fine, you’re fine, we’ll both be fine. Just take a minute. Talk to me.”

“What would we talk about?” Michael asked. Uriel thought for a moment, glancing over at the customer who had now moved on to albums.

“Let’s talk like humans do over the phone,” Uriel suggested. They were decently well versed in some aspects of human culture. It couldn’t be too hard.

“Okay? How do we do that?” Uriel thought for a moment. What did humans say over the phone often?

“What are you wearing?” Uriel’s question and shameless expression caused the young browsing man to glance up at them for a second.

“What?” Michael was baffled. “I’m wearing what I normally wear to work.”

Uriel couldn’t keep themselves from laughing. Michael sighed heavily into the phone, which somehow made the situation that much funnier.

“It’s something humans say,” Uriel said, without much more context.

“Mhm,” Michael hummed, they knew when Uriel was up to no good. “I needed that, though.”

“Needed what?” Uriel asked.

“All of what you just did,” Michael’s speech had slowed. “I just needed to hear you for awhile.”

“Just because we’re angels doesn’t mean you have to be sappy all the time,” Uriel groaned facetiously.

“I mean it. Every word,” Michael assured them, which caused Uriel to make another sound of displeasure, even though they hadn’t stopped smiling. “We’ll have to talk later.”

“Alright,” A sigh escaped Uriel’s lips, and they began drumming their fingers on the countertop. 

“I love you,” Michael said. 

“I love you, too,” Uriel returned. There was silence over the phone, and then it beeped until Uriel hung it up. They really, really wanted Michael to be there, and yet they didn’t. This was their job to do, and they were capable of doing it by themselves. They were an Archangel, for heaven’s sake. But it still felt so weird. They felt alone, and not-so-recent events caused them to hate being alone. Everything just felt complicated. 

“Long distance relationship?” The customer, who had now approached the counter with a CD that Uriel didn’t bother to read the name of, asked sheepishly.

“Yeah,” Uriel tried to hide the brittleness of their voice. They thought about how ridiculous they were as they were scanning the item. Angels hardly ever cried. Uriel could only think of a few times when they had actually cried. All of the angels cried during the crucifixion. Uriel was crestfallen to the point of tears after checking the doors for lambs blood in Egypt*. But this was different, and Uriel didn’t understand.

“I’ve been there,” The man took his CD, a little less bashful now. “It’ll get easier.”

With that, the man left, and Uriel was the only person left in the store. They checked the time. It was 7:43, and they closed their shop at 9:00. Uriel had been on earth for nearly thirty hours, but they felt the need to go to Heaven to make an official report on their progress soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Armageddon and the failed execution of a demon and angel came with more paperwork than one would think-I almost wrote it as “Armageddon’t and the executain’ts,” but I decided to make a note about it instead.
> 
> *They hadn’t labeled it, but they did what humans generally did in romantic relationships and had been doing so for nearly two thousand years-I guess you could call them partners, but I feel like labels on relationships are a human thing, not really an occult/ethereal thing. They’re just in love. (Also, May I propose Ineffable Colleagues for Michael and Uriel, considering I haven’t seen a ship name for them yet?)
> 
> *They didn’t hide the fact that they were romantically involved, they just acted professional around one another during work and kept their personal business private-I see these two as people who don’t bring their personal lives to work with them if they can help it, but also extremely in love. 
> 
> They were decently well versed in some aspects of human culture. It couldn’t be too hard-I feel like the Archangels have been to Earth more often than demons that are of higher status, so they would have a little more of an understanding of it than Beelzebub and Dagon. They aren’t as familiar or in tune with their feelings as Aziraphale/Crowley/Humans, obviously, but they know more. Uriel has probably watched a movie before or gone to see a broadway show. 
> 
> *Uriel was crestfallen to the point of tears after checking the doors for lambs blood in Egypt-While researching stuff for Uriel, I found that some people believe they checked the doors in Egypt for lambs blood during the Passover. (Not the angel that brought the plague though, at least I don’t think so.) I would imagine that Uriel would be very upset by this. Earth amplifies the emotions of occult and ethereal beings, and they knew a lot of children were going to die.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im not proud of this chapter for some reason? I feel like it’s lacking. Really, I just wanna get to the romantic stuff but I’m following a plan and I don’t wanna remake the plan. Also, I feel like Beelzebub isn’t sassy and angry enough, but I feel like they’re more relaxed around Dagon because they’re friends? I’ll probably show them both being sassy and angry later. Also, a fly flew at me while I was writing this, don’t know if Beelzebub is being approving or disapproving, but it left as soon as it came so I don’t know.

It was dark out when Dagon and Beelzebub returned to their flat. The sun had been setting around the time they left the pet store, and as the world began to dim into darkness, everything seemed to grow a little more serene. The shadowy streets lit only by dim, flickering lights created a sense of familiarity for the two demons. It was sort of uplifting, and had been enough to drag Dagon back to the present. It was quiet for awhile, save the scruff of footsteps, the passing of cars, and the reverberating of singing crickets.

“Do you think we should buy new clothes?” Dagon broke the silence. Beelzebub had been looking at the ground a few feet in front of zir, but ze turned zir head to look at her.

“Are you thinking about the man in the park?” Beelzebub asked, silently cursing the man as ze did. Ze may or may not have miracled a few roaches into the ventilation system in his house. “I didn’t think that would bother you.”

“It didn’t,” Dagon said truthfully. “It just got me thinking, maybe we should wear things that would help us blend in.”

“I don’t care much about blending in with them. Besides, our outfits don’t draw that much attention,” Beelzebub had this suit for for a pretty long time, around two hundred years. At this point, it was like a second skin to zir, and ze was never really a fan of changing zir style. Ze’d occasionally see styles of clothing worn by demons that went to Earth on a regular basis, and think, ‘I like that.’ Then ze would wear it. Ze hadn’t seen any new clothes ze wanted to wear as of now, and so ze didn’t want to change. “But don’t let that stop you from wearing zzzsomething different.”

“I don’t really want to either, it was just a thought,” Dagon was drumming her fingers against her thigh again.

“There hazzzs to be more to do around here then go to a park,” Beelzebub noted. “I don’t really like the idea of sitting around doing nothing.”

“Neither do I,” A car drove past them. Beelzebub was becoming aware of how strained the conversation was. There were occasions in which Dagon would become reserved, but only if the atmosphere of Hell had become more tense than normal. This was different, and Beelzebub didn’t know why. Their conversation ended there, and they walked back to their flat in silence. 

Dagon had gotten to the door first, despite the fact that she had drifted a few steps behind Beelzebub on the way there, and opened it for zir. She waited for the other to enter first, and stood acquiescently by the door until ze did. Following behind your superior and holding doors open for them was an expression of inferiority, and it had seemed to slip Dagon’s mind to do so ever since they had gotten to the park. It was a disappointing to see her do it again, but it gave Beelzebub time to miracle another chair into the room. 

“Sit,” Beelzebub said as ze walked to zir own chair. The new one resembled Beelzebub’s, but it was silver. Dagon had barely left the doorway by the time Beelzebub sat down. Dagon made her way over, although gingerly, and when she had gotten close enough Beelzebub flicked zir hand towards the chair, which forced Dagon into it. Beelzebub propped zir head up with one arm, studying Dagon for awhile. Ze had the look of a thousand angry parent’s who’s kids weren’t home before their curfew in zir eyes. “Zzzsomething is wrong.”

Normally, when the air hinted that things weren’t auspicious, Beelzebub was the first to declare it. Ze would normally follow this declaration by reporting to zir master, and then ze would do what was necessary to deal with the problem. But Dagon got the feeling that this situation was different from the others.

“Can you tell me what it is?” Beelzebub asked Dagon. Before Dagon’s head could flood with panic, Beelzebub corrected zirself. “I mean that you’re acting differently. Zzzso... something is bothering you.”

Dagon moved her mouth, as if to speak, but she couldn’t form the words she wanted to express. Beelzebub’s eyes bore expectantly into her, which caused her thoughts to scatter. Dagon gripped the armrests to keep her hands still.

“I don’t really know,” Dagon confessed.

“You can tell me,” When the demons fell from heaven, all of their angelic features had burned and faded into memories hidden beneath their new demonic attributes. When Beelzebub had spoken, Dagon had looked into zir eyes and saw a glimpse of something ethereal beneath the ashes of it’s ruin. Dagon’s tension eased, and her thoughts collected.

“I don’t want to upset you more than I already have,” Dagon said finally. She had expected many reactions from Beelzebub, some of which were the outlandish designs of her insecurity, but she had not expected confusion. Beelzebub sat straight up in zir chair, then zir eyes narrowed for a moment as though ze was thinking about what Dagon had said.

“I’m not upset with you,” Beelzebub said, zir voice higher than usual.

“I thought you would be,” Dagon felt flustered and relief at the same time. “I feel like I was out of line by asking you to come here.”

“If I thought it was that bad of an idea I wouldn’t have gone along with it,” Ze replied, still muddled. “I assume it’zzzs better than the alternative.”

“You’re really not upset with me?” Dagon asked again. “You don’t think I was being foolish?”

“You’re the least incompetent demon I know,” Which was, to the two of them, a compliment. “I think you’re the only one who hasn’t upset me.”

And then, it seemed like centuries of worry and over-analyzing drifted from the room to be someone else’s problem.

“Another thing,” Dagon began, her hands had released the armrests and moved as she put emphasis on her words. “I think there’s something about Earth... it makes me feel more conflicted than usual.”

“I’ve noticed that, too,” Beelzebub had returned to zir regular sitting position. The two talked for awhile, about unimportant things like how the Earth had some sort of effect on emotion and what might have happened to the horsemen after their ‘deaths.’* They talked like they had never been allowed to talk before and would never be allowed to again, and for a moment the room almost smelled like hyacinths. After awhile, the conversation drifted to human things.

“I do think music would make everything less...” Dagon gestured to the room around them as she searched for a word. “Weird. Quiet. I’m not going to get used to how quiet it is.”

“Yezzzs,” Beelzebub agreed, then thought of something else. “I want to try sleeping. It passes time, and it’s supposed to be pleazzzsurable. Not sure how you do it, though.”

No one ever slept in Hell, or in Heaven. In Hell, if you had time to sleep, you had time to make yourself useful.

“I think you just lay there until you go unconscious.” Dagon said.

“How do you stop?” 

“I think it happens naturally,” Dagon only knew that humans were tempted to sleep instead of working, and that humans saw visions in dreams. Beelzebub had a similar understand, and ze’d be damned—well, blessed—if ze weren’t going to find out how to do it. 

Beelzebub snapped zir fingers, and ze and Dagon are in the bedroom they hadn’t been in on a bed they knew hadn’t been there. It made Dagon feel a whole new type of flustered, and she sat upright almost immediately with her knees to her chest as Beelzebub laid on zir chest.

“Relax,” Ze said, voice slightly muffled. “It’s for sleeping.”

“I just wasn’t expecting that,” Dagon had never gone red before, but she could feel the color rushing to her face. Beelzebub turned zir head to her, a hint of a smile on zir lips. 

“So you just close your eyes until you fall asleep?” Ze asked. Dagon had composed herself by then, and shrugged her shoulders.

“I think so,” Dagon watched Beelzebub close zir eyes a minute.

“I don’t think it’s working,” Ze kept zir eyes closed as ze spoke, and eventually buried their face in a pillow.

“I think it takes awhile,” Dagon laid back, her shoulders propped against a pillow. “I think you have to be tired.”

“I’ve been managing Hell for six thousand years,” Ze exhaled, making a sound that resembled a laugh. “You’d think I’d be tired enough.”

“Now is your chance to relax,” Dagon sighed. “Maybe we should take advantage of doing nothing.”

And they did. They were both quiet for a few minutes, comfortably quiet. It crossed Dagon’s mind at some point to snap her fingers and turn the lights off. It was completely dark in the room, but she could still see everything clearly.

“Are you asleep?” She decided to ask.

“No,” Beelzebub’s turned into zir side, and Dagon did the same. They look at each other briefly. In that moment, something happened. Whatever it was, it triggered a memory and suddenly weighed Beelzebub down with extreme grief. “Do you ever miss being able to create things?”

“I do,” Dagon had put her heart and soul into creating things while in Heaven. Beelzebub knew, ze had seen the things she made. “But I do not regret my decision. What I said long ago is still true.”

What Dagon had said was something promised long ago. It was after Seraphiel had told Dagiel of zir new cause, a rebellion who would fight for the answers they sought. They would hold power and knowledge, and they would be stronger than God herself. When Seraphiel said this, Dagiel gave her answer almost immediately. She would follow and fight wherever ze lead.

Dagon heard no response from Beelzebub. They had both gone quiet again.

“Are you asleep now?” 

Still no reply. Dagon assumed that meant yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Ze may or may not have miracled a few roaches into the ventilation system in his house-Not a fun time, trust me.
> 
> *The two talked for awhile, about unimportant things like how the Earth had some sort of effect on emotion and what might have happened to the horsemen after their ‘deaths.’-I’m gonna be straight with y’all, even though I’m super gay. I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter for some reason. I just want to get out of the awkwardness and dive into the love between these two. This is basically my way of making them talk until they are comfortable without actually making them do that. Also, I have a few ideas as to what happened to the horsemen after they died. Might write about that, but probably not till I’m done with this, so I’m not really worried about that.
> 
> *It made Dagon feel a whole new type of flustered, and she sat upright almost immediately with her knees to her chest as Beelzebub laid on zir chest-Anna Maxwell Martin’s entire existence makes me feel flustered. Like, she awakens these romantic feelings in me, not even for her necessarily, she just makes me want to fall in love. She’s so cute
> 
> *Whatever it was, it triggered a memory and suddenly weighed Beelzebub down with extreme grief-We’re definitely gonna have some angsty moments where Beelzebub feels like it’s zir fault Dagon fell


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I need to talk about two things. The first might affect how much I post stuff, so that might be important. I’m going on vacation from August 3rd to August 10th, and I’ll be going back to school on August 12th. So that’s a thing. I.’lol probably still write while I’m on vacation because I get inspired while on vacation, but school’s gonna stress me the heck out. I think I’ve been uploading every two to three days, so idk how that’ll affect how frequently I upload.
> 
> The second thing is that a very good friend of mine has started reading this fanfiction. They’re not a big Dagon/Beelzebub or Michael/Uriel shipper, but they’re reading it anyways. I would actually be surprised if they read this far, but if they did: Hello.

If you ask around enough, you might meet a person who swears they’ve met an angel. They may have a story of how they were in a tough situation and a seemingly normal person approached them to offer help, then they vanished soon after their problem had been solved. In most cases, it was a regular person coming to the aid of another, as angels don’t often descend to help change a tire or spare some change for a bus ticket. That isn’t to say people haven’t had encounters with angels before, some angels happen to be on Earth and it is in their nature to help those in need. It should also be noted that it is the nature of most humans to help those in need, but humans can’t always tell when something is wrong. If a woman is sitting on a bench waiting for a bus, not crying, shaking, or showing visible signs of being upset, a human being will likely not sense anything wrong. While taking a walk after closing their shop, Uriel had passed by and, sensing her unnerving, approached her.

“Hello,” They sat down on the other end of the bench, who gave a thin-lipped smile. “I’m sorry if I sound intrusive, but are you alright?”

“Oh, is it that noticeable?” The woman had been red-faced, but only now had her features begun to contort. “It’s just... I’ve had a rough week, and a thing happened today that sort triggered a...” She cut herself off with a sigh, then gestured to herself, blinking rapidly.

“I’m sorry,” Uriel apologized again. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“I don’t think you’d believe me...” Her voice broke slightly, but she composed herself with a deep breath.

“Well, a lot of strange things have been happening lately,” Uriel pointed out. “I doubt your story is that unbelievable. You heard about the kraken, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but...” The woman sniffed and wiped one of her eyes with her thumb. Uriel handed her a handkerchief that hadn’t been in their pocket before. “Thanks.”

“You know, I’ve seen some pretty unbelievable things before. A lot, actually,” Uriel thought of one they could tell her, but they figured retelling well-known miracles would scare her away. Then they knew what to say. “I recently saw a man walk into a fire without getting burned at all. He wasn’t wearing a flame resistant suit or anything, either. I still can’t figure out how he did it.”

Uriel could see the woman’s eyes narrow. Uriel shrugged in response, and the woman choked back a laugh.

“Well, it’s kind of stupid to cry over,” She pulled all of her hair over one shoulder, then dried her eyes with the handkerchief.

“Sometimes we get frustrated when we don’t understand things,”* That was true for humans and angels, Uriel was speaking from their own experiences. “Crying is a perfectly reasonable reaction.”

“Thank you,” The woman dabbed at her eyes again. “It’s kind of stupid. I work at a pet store nearby and all the fish are just... gone. Like, they disappeared somehow. I turned around for one second and they vanished. All of them.”

Something about that woman’s story seemed off. It sounded like something a demon might do, but for what reason? What could they possible hope to gain from that?

“It’s not that unbelievable,” Uriel tried not to let their confusion show. “I believe you, anyways. Just because you can’t explain it, doesn’t mean it’s not possible.”

“You’re sweet,”* The woman folded the handkerchief and handed it to Uriel, they could sense she was calmer now. “Do you want this back?”

“No, you keep it, and hang in there, alright?” Uriel stood and walked away with no intention of mysteriously vanishing. The woman had had enough unexplainable encounters for the day. 

Uriel walked faster once they rounded the corner, pulling their phone from their pocket and calling Michael, who let the phone ring for quite some time.

“This is the Archangel Michael speaking,” They answered.

“For someone who calls me all the time, you sure do take your time answering the phone,” Uriel teased.

“Lovely to hear from you, too, dear,” Michael‘s tone had shifted from professional to a tranquil lull. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Uriel looked around to see if anyone was nearby, then lowered their voice. “Apparently some fish from a nearby pet store disappeared.* I ran into a woman at a bus stop who said they just vanished when she turned her back.”

“Oh?” Uriel could tell that Michael had raised their eyebrows. “Do you think it’s the work of demon?”

“I don’t see who else could have done it,” Uriel smiled as someone walked passed them, then continued talking. “But I don’t see what a demon would have to gain from doing something like that.”

“Well, keep your eyes peeled,” Michael reminded them, not knowing what else to tell them to do. 

“I will,” Uriel affirmed. “I love you.”

“And I love you,” Michael echoed endearingly. God, Uriel missed them. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“I’ll be counting the minutes,” Uriel quipped.

“As will I,” A long, single tone rang from the other end of the phone, signaling the end of the call. Uriel definitely hated that sound more than they hated the sound the phone made when it rang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sometimes we get frustrated when we don’t understand things-Me with Math 
> 
> *You’re sweet-Uriel’s a real angel
> 
> *Apparently some fish from a nearby pet store disappeared-I guess you could say that something fishy is going on (I swear I don’t make puns this often.)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :/

The Lord had gone silent as her angels began to divide into sides. The rebellion had now become known to everyone, even God, and nearly half of the ethereal population had chosen to follow Lucifer. At his side were angels that Uriel had known, one of which was Seraphiel. Then there was the death. Angels had never seen such a thing before, and several angels had been executed to demonstrate the power of the rebellion. Seraphiel’s fire could be found in weapons of all sorts, and it could kill an angel with a single touch.* The fighting hadn’t started yet, but both sides were gearing up for the first ever war. There had been such a panic amongst the remaining upper management that Uriel had not heard from Dagiel in days, but now they were looking for her. She was kneeling in the pond, as Uriel had expected, whispering to the fish that encircled her while her hair skimmed the surface of the still water.

“Dagiel?” Uriel cried, their voice brittle and dry. Had they any breath, they would have lost it.

“Uriel!” The angel of fish rose to her feet, moving forward as if she were going to embrace the other. She did not. Neither of them cared to make casual conversation, they both knew the situation that kept them from seeing each other for awhile. What mattered was that they were seeing each other now, when your world is at war it is often worth a priceless amount to see someone you care about in front of you. “I was worried.”

“So was I,” Uriel took a few more steps forward, looking at the other angel as if they were determining whether or not they were real. Then, the angels wrapped their arms around each other for a moment and pulled away. “I can’t believe it, have you seen the things they’ve done? Those... those... bad angels. They’ve executed angels in front of crowds to show off these fancy, fiery weapons of there’s... it’s awful, I was worried they might have gotten to you.”

“Yes,” Dagiel’s response flatly and gave a single nod of her head. “Has God said anything about the rebellion?”

“No, nothing,” Uriel thought they felt the ground shaking. “She hasn’t spoken to anyone since, not even the Metatron.”

“I would have thought she’d do more than speak. She should act, she should do something,” Her words were guttural and suspiciously insincere. Uriel dismissed her tone, the circumstances they were under could understandably cause an upset.

“She knows what she’s doing, it’s all part of her plan,” Uriel wasn’t completely confident what they were saying, but they said it. Other angels needed hope more than honesty.

“Are you really going with that again?” Dagiel scoffed. It was harsh and as grating as the grinding of metal.

“Excuse me?” Uriel clenched their teeth to keep from shuddering.

“I don’t mean to offend you. I’m just tired of ‘the plan’ being used as an excuse for God ignoring her own creations,” The shadows of the fish darted into the deeper, darker part of the pond. “If she wasn’t going to treat us fairly, she shouldn’t have given us feelings. It was only a matter of time before someone was brave enough to stand up to her.”

“You can’t possibly mean what you’re saying,” Uriel’s voice only wavered slightly, but their posture straightened.

“Of course I mean it,” Dagiel furrowed her eyebrows and sat back down in the water, grabbing a stone that sat on the bottom and throwing it as hard as she could. It skipped once, then disappeared. “My only problem with the rebellion is that it should’ve happened sooner.”

“You’re not yourself,” The Archangel was frozen with disbelief, and Heaven seemed to distort deeper into madness. “I know these are strange times, and that there are some things we don’t understand, but-“

“These are the times every inferior angel has been waiting for,” Dagiel threw another stone, which didn’t skip at all this time. She actually preferred to watch them sink instead of skip.* “We’ve been given a chance to ask questions, be heard, and answered. Our leader actually shows his face, he actually speaks so we can all hear.”

“You’re with them?” Uriel knew Dagiel’s answer before they asked, but they still felt the need to. Maybe they were just misunderstanding her. “When they’ve killed other angels?”

“Sometimes you have to do something drastic to draw attention to yourself,” Dagiel said plainly. “It’s a worthy cause, Uriel. Lucifer is going to be a different kind of leader, better than God ever was.”

Uriel was silent. They had so much to say, and yet they didn’t feel like they had the strength to say it all. Dagiel had never spoken like that before, and somehow Uriel knew she wouldn’t budge. They only said one thing.

“But it’s not about him, is it?” They felt their hands turn to fists, and Dagiel cast another rock off. “It’s not even about you. It’s about Seraphiel.”

No answer. The air felt like it was scorching Uriel’s skin.

“Everything you’re saying is just a repeat of the rubbish they convinced you of, I’m not even sure you believe it. You just want to, because it’s what ze believes,” Uriel went quiet again, before they spat out the rest of their point. “It’s pathetic. You really aren’t yourself anymore.”

“That doesn’t mean much coming from you,” Dagiel acted like what Uriel said didn’t even sting. In fact, she seemed amused. She stood up and turned around to face Uriel rather than looking over her shoulder every so often. “It’s so ironic that it almost makes me feel bad. Do you even know what God has planned for the future? I know that she doesn’t really tell you much, even though you’re an Archangel.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Uriel folded their hands, their anger had hardened them to the point of being able to stand without shaking.* “I’m able to wait patiently for the Lord to reveal her plan for me. It’s better than the alternative, which is throwing a fit.”

“You’re going to be waiting for eternity, then,” Dagiel smiled, wider than should have been natural, but Uriel wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of looking put off. “Her plan for you is for you to sit around Heaven, completely obedient and unable to do anything for yourself. The thing she really cares about are the humans.”

Humans. So Lucifer had told his lemmings about God’s most cherished idea. They had not yet been created, but millions were being carefully and intimately designed by her, each with flaws, talents, and challenges. That is all Uriel knew, and all they cared to know.

“So this is all about jealousy, then?” Uriel raised their eyebrows. 

“It’s about everyone getting what they deserve,” Dagiel had moved closer to Uriel. She was much taller, and was therefore looking down at them, but Uriel kept a stone face.

“Who are you to say what anyone deserves?” They asked. “Do you really think anybody deserves to die?”

“If God really cares about everyone who’s died, she can bring them back,” Dagiel was patronizing them. “Since she is all powerful and loves her creations so much.”

“Is that a yes, then?” Uriel waited for Dagiel to answer, but she didn’t confirm or deny it. “Tell me what I deserve, then. I want to know. Do I deserve to die?”

More silence, which indicated uncertainty.

“If I do, then go ahead and drag me back to all your friends and have them make an example of me. Maybe you’ll get some positive recognition from Seraphiel for bringing back an Archangel,” Uriel waited, and Dagiel did nothing.

“You deserve better sense than what you have,” Dagiel finally answered. “Hopefully you’ll get it before it’s too late.”

With that, she turned around and walked into the pond until she had completely vanished. Uriel felt the wind again, but this time it burned their eyes. They left the pond. There was nothing there for them anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Seraphiel’s fire could be found in weapons of all sorts, and it could kill an angel with a single touch-I read somewhere that Seraphiel had fire that could cleanse sin, but when they rebelled I head canon that it becomes Hellfire
> 
> *She actually preferred to watch them sink instead of skip-Dagiel is mainly upset because she feels guilty about all the death and stuff
> 
> *Uriel folded their hands, their anger had hardened them to the point of being able to stand without shaking-Uriel ain’t havin’ that shit


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geez, sorry this one is short. Next chapter will definitely have Dagon and Beelzebub fluff in it. Also, the song I Wanna Be Like You from the Junglebook has been stuck in my head and sometimes I’ll be like, “What should I write for this line?”  
> And my brain is like, “I WANNA BE LIKE YOOUU!”  
> So sorry if this chapter is written weird or there’s more mistakes than usual. Also it’s 1:46 am

The morning was misty and dewy, like the eyes of someone who had woken up but barely slept enough to get themselves through the day. While most would see the thick fog and damp air as an inconvenience that created a gloomy, or maybe even spooky, atmosphere, Dagon found it refreshing. She was practically a fish, after all.

Beelzebub was still asleep, ze had been for several hours. Dagon wasn’t exactly sure how long people normally slept, but she figured that as long as ze was asleep, she could find a store that sold music and look around for something to listen to.

For a strange reason, it is more likely for a person who goes out in public to see someone they greatly dislike than it is for that same person to see someone they do like. Either it’s an unfortunate coincidence that effects everyone, or God enjoys watching people awkwardly attempt to avoid eye contact and get as far from each other as possible. 

But Dagon and Uriel—But mostly Dagon—had not forgotten their anger towards each other. In fact, it had gotten stronger over the past sixty centuries. The phrase, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ can also apply to feelings of loathing. They were also an angel and a demon. Basically, their interaction would likely be more than an awkward acknowledgement of one another, and it was.

There was a bell that was rang by the corner of the front door as it opened at Uriel’s shop, but it was broken. The clapper must have fallen out somehow, but Uriel hadn’t really noticed. They didn’t mind that customers came and went without them knowing, their only trouble with people stealing was the immorality of it. If someone was considering it, Uriel was normally able to sense their hesitation and convince them otherwise with either a miracle or a stern look. But Uriel had noticed Dagon’s entrance. It was hard not to, she smelled like evil and fish. They locked eyes, and it was like they had returned to their six thousand-year-old conversation.

“I was wondering when I’d run into Heaven’s replacement angel,” Dagon smiled with sharp, silver teeth—those were new, at least to Uriel—and placed her hands on her hips. “But I expected it would take at least a few decades.”

Somehow, Dagon found a way to say everything condescendingly. Uriel leaned forward against the counter and sighed. Good Lord.

“I had hoped it would take longer than that,” Uriel agreed, intentionally sounding like they thought their conversation was dull.

“I’m surprised they sent an Archangel to do the business of a principality,” Dagon walked closer to the counter. She enjoyed leaning down in a derisive manner while arguing with people. She was tall, and that gave her an advantage in an argument. “I suppose they’re trying to find a use for you, though.”

“Yes, and I suppose being sent to Earth is such an honor where you’re from?” Uriel raised their eyebrows. 

“I’m not saying it is,” Dagon’s smile somehow became wider. “But I know all about your hierarchy. I know how low principalities are compared to Archangels. I’d be surprised if your lot ever held a conversation with one, let alone preform one of their duties*.”

“How is Hell treating you?” Uriel smiled as well, simply and sarcastically, but they didn’t show their teeth. “I’m sure the equal treatment and free speech you were promised is just wonderful*.”

“Oh, it is,” Dagon didn’t falter at all. “I know those concepts are very foreign to you, but I appreciate that you remembered that they were an important part of where I’m from.”

“What in Heaven are you doing here, anyways?” Uriel finally snapped. Dagon pulled away from the counter and looked around.

“Well, I’m not too familiar with the human culture, but I do believe they sell music here,” Dagon looked to Uriel, as for confirmation. 

“What kind?” They asked through gritted teeth.

“The kind with instruments, maybe some singing,” The demon gestured half-heartedly towards a shelf of CDs. 

“What genre?” Uriel mimicked their tone from earlier.

“Oh, I have no idea,” Dagon shrugged. 

“Have you tried a radio?” The angel was shaking their knee up and down, Dagon had managed to suck every ounce of their patience and morph it into restlessness. 

“A what?” Dagon put the CD she had been examine on top of the others instead of in the rack. 

“It’s a machine that will play music from a radio station, it plays all kinds of music,” And it would save Uriel from having Dagon browse their shop.

“And a radio station is?” Dagon leaned against a shelf of CDs, which leaned with her, but was kept from tipping completely by something unseen. She was smiling, and she was most definitely doing what she was doing do be a nuisance.

“You know what a radio station is, now cut it out and buy something,” Uriel nearly hissed, which would have delighted Dagon. If they had, she would have said something about how they had room for a new snake where she was working.

“I am the Master of Torments, I’m only living up to my title,” Dagon outstretched her arms and approached the counter again.

“Fitting,” Uriel grabbed a box with a radio inside from under the counter. It was brand new, but designed to look vintage. Uriel thought that the radio was also fitting for Dagon, as it seemed like something she might own. Uriel would continue thinking about why they had that thought for the next few hours. 

“So how much is it? I’m kind of expecting a price increase, given our past, by that doesn’t sound like a very holy thing to do,” It would surprise to Uriel if Dagon had any money or an intention of paying.

They inhaled sharply, then exhaled for as long as they could. Their jaw unclenched, and they handed Dagon the radio.

“Free of charge,” Their voice had become monotone. “If you tell me why you did what you did with the fish?”

“Elaborate?” Dagon put the box under her arm. 

“At the pet store. Why did you make them all disappear?” Uriel asked.

“I didn’t,” Dagon looked like she was genuinely baffled by what Uriel had said, then appeared to make a realization. “Oh! Yes. I definitely remember now, I just forget every little bad thing I do sometimes, since I do bad things all of the time. They’re gone, probably dead. Thought it’d freak out someone if I did it. Anyways, good bye.” 

Dagon had managed to get everything she need to say out and leave within ten seconds. Uriel was almost impressed, but they still really, really didn’t like her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I’d be surprised if your lot ever held a conversation with one, let alone preform one of their duties AND I’m sure the equal treatment and free speech you were promised is just wonderful-Uriel thinks that Dagon is a naive angel corrupted into being a heartless, selfish creature who’s only motives are pure evil. Dagon thinks Uriel is a naive angel that wouldn’t see the light who became full of themselves and that they don’t care about anything but their reputation. Obviously, these are untrue, but they’re angry.
> 
> Link to the radio Dagon gets: https://www.google.com/shopping/product/3293205908279434825?q=radio&client=safari&hl=en-us&biw=320&bih=454&output=search&prmd=sinv&prds=opd:17394906704258871903,num:4,cs:1&tbs=cat:6886,vw:l,init_ar:SgVKAwjmNUoHsgQECJ6zIA%3D%3D,ss:44


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. I’m on vacation. Also, sorry this chapter is short and kinda bad. I’m dead tired right now, but I really wanted to update this so that you guys know it’s still going. Here you go. I’m gonna pass out after I post this, so good night.

Ch 11

Humans had come up with a variety of inventions since they were put on the earth. Some of these inventions were influenced by demons, and were thus considered cruel and inhuman, but Dagon never really thought any human would have a use for a box that screams. That was all the radio was doing, after all. It had admittedly surprised her, she hadn’t excepted the grating, whirring sound barely audible over a harsh, intense crackling that almost sounded like the hoarse growling of a hellhound.

She hadn’t expected Beelzebub, who was still asleep when she arrived home, to tense up at the sound, either. The other demon opened zir eyes, looking a little dazed.

“Hello,” Dagon tried turning a few of the dials on the radio until the sound became quieter, kneeling by the bedside table where she had propped it. She could hear a few voices, which were faint and cut off by the roaring noise. 

“What are you doing?” Beelzebub sat up, the whites of zir eyes appeared to be red.

“I thought I’d buy a radio, just so we’d have more noise around here,” Dagon smacked the top of the radio a few times, which didn’t result in anything happening. “I didn’t think it would do that, honestly. I’m trying to make it play music.”

The other demon smiled slightly. If ze were summonses and ze ever cared to make a scene, ze flipped through radio stations, provided that the person who summoned zir owned a radio. It wasn’t particularly terrifying, but it was unsettling to humans. Ze could have easily made the radio play music properly, but ze didn’t.

“I like it how it is,”* Beelzebub laid on zir stomach, resting zir head on zir arms while still looking at Dagon. 

“So, how was sleeping?” Dagon turned the radio down a bit more, to the point that it could be heard without being a distraction. At least she could do that.

“It was weird,” Beelzebub sighed, and zir breath faded softly into the static. “I feel like I’ve been so unproductive.”

“Well, there’s not much to do right now, anyways,” Dagon felt Beelzebub’s eyes on her, watchful and filled with hidden intent, like a cat. Beelzebub hummed in response, almost as if ze disagreed with her statement. 

“It was very kind of you to buy that radio,” Beelzebub said it as though Dagon had done something scandalous. She flashed her silver teeth in response. 

“It was very kind of you to free all those fish,” The two smiled at each other, like they had both been caught in the act of doing something bad, or in their case, good.

“Where’d you hear that from?” Beelzebub asked. 

“I have my sources,” Dagon shrugged. Technically, Dagon wasn’t lying. She had heard it from a source. “Word travels fast up here, and you were the only one who could have done it.”

“Perhaps I wanted to cause a little trouble,” Beelzebub barely attempted to sound convincing. Ze almost seemed a little proud that zir work didn’t go unnoticed.

“Oh, I’ll bet. You’ve been doing some very pleasant things lately, Lord Beelzebub,” Dagon teased. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were going native.”

“Oh, Satan, please don’t say that,” Beelzebub groaned at the thought. “I’d never be allowed in Hell again. I can only hope the forces of hell will forgive me this time, and I didn’t even do anything wrong.”

“Right, can’t stay here any longer than we have to,” The demon ground her silver teeth together. The other noticed.

“What?” Beelzebub asked. 

“Nothing, it’s just...” Dagon looked for the least embarrassing words to use as an answer to zir question. Shame was one of the worst emotions Dagon had felt since her arrival, she had certainly never experienced anything like it before. It was a red-hot and burned visibly inside her head. That was the worst part about it, you could actually see this emotion, so it was hard to hide. “It might be hard to go from doing nothing all day to working ‘round the clock again.”

Beelzebub hummed in acknowledgement, ze didn’t quite believe her.

“I agree,” Ze said half-heartedly. Ze were much closer to Dagon than she had originally thought. “And there are many earthly things I would like to try.”

Something about Beelzebub’s eyes nearly made Dagon shake. They were filled with fermented desire, which had been locked away for quite a few years but was finally being unearthed and opened. Their icy color nearly melted back into a tender, meaningful blue. In fact, for a moment zir eyes grew hot enough for the color to completely evaporate and leave behind only the whites.

“Such as?” Dagon dared to ask. Beelzebub looked at her, then tilted zir head to the side. Dagon thought ze was consider zir options first, but she found Beelzebub moving closer. 

The faint static only added to the surreality of the situation, and Dagon’s brain—well, demons and angels don’t really have brains, but you get the idea—finally decided to process everything at the last seconds. Bad idea. This was a bad idea. Dagon jerked back.

“Bad idea,” She voiced her thoughts out loud. “You’re doing that... that human thing, aren’t you? That’s a bad idea.”

“Why?” Beelzebub propped zir tilted hand with one hand. The look ze have only made Dagon more conflicted. The human thing. The stupid human thing. Kissing. That was just not a demon thing. Kissing was a way to show affection, and demons were NOT affectionate.* it was a symbol of love, and that was not allowed. At least, that’s what Dagon’s mind was telling her.

“You could get in trouble,” Dagon admitted meekly, but Beelzebub barely blinked.

“Is that your reason?” Ze asked simply. It was becoming harder to understand what sort of emotion Beelzebub was conveying.

“Yes?” Honestly, Dagon was only partially sure of why she refused. Of course she didn’t want Beelzebub to get in trouble with Hell, but the likelihood of anyone finding out or caring enough to make a deal about two demons kissing was fairly slim. Still, it didn’t make it any less... weird. “I’m not sure I’m ready to do that.”

“Well, we don’t have to,” Beelzebub’s eyes had return to their frosty color. “Only a suggestion. I’d still like to try it someday.”

So, that was it then? Beelzebub had only wanted to kiss out of curiosity. Dagon wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *“I like it how it is,”- So, it took me awhile to figure out what I was gonna do for music. I wanted to try and find music that Beelzebub would listen to, and I almost settled for the Jekyll and Hyde musical soundtrack, but then I had the idea of Beelzebub just listening to radio static  
> *Kissing was a way to show affection, and demons were NOT affectionate-So demons don’t kiss. They probably hook up, but romantic relationships (or caring to much about each other) is a big no-no.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh geez, another short one. Sorry, guys! I started school, and the first week is always the most stressful. I’m going to try and update this really soon. I just wish that my brain would stop coming up with ideas for new stories instead of think of words for my current one. I’m refusing to let myself work on any other fanfics until I’ve finished this one. If I contribute anything to this fandom, let it be for Beelzebub/Dagon and Michael/Uriel shippers. There’s needs to be more content, and I’m determined

Uriel often helped humans deal with their loneliness by sending them a comforting feeling or a sense of wellness. It was morbidly ironic that they would struggle with a fear of loneliness. They really, really did not like being alone, especially with their thoughts. Uriel thought that it might be difficult to feel that way on Earth, given all the people and liveliness, but they were wrong. They were alone, and their thoughts ran more wildly through their head than ever. The music shop had been closed, and they had been leaning against the counter with their face in their hands.

They just wanted something to happen. They were quietly hoping that anything at all would come and distract them from this. Perhaps they should have been more specific. It seemed as though God was listening to Uriel’s secret longing for the presence of another being, and God Also seemed to be in a particularly snarky mood that night. Evil was in the air, and it’s sudden appearance nearly caused Uriel to choke. They had decided to form lungs while on Earth in case some perceptive human noticed that they weren’t breathing, but Uriel wasn’t used to how in convenient they were. Sometimes, breathing a certain way could send a person into a coughing fit-how did humans live with that? Anyways, someone tried to open the door to the music shop, but it was locked.

“We’re closed,” Uriel said, their voice unsteady from the stiffness of their throat. They cleared it, and decided they no longer wanted anyone’s company. Well, their company did not care, because the door opened anyways. It was Dagon, because why would it be anyone else? She tried to appear casual, but smugness was practically radiating from her. Miracling a locked door open was hardly an achievement worth that much amount of pride, but since pride was a sin, Dagon indulged in it. She also knew Uriel wasn’t happy to see her, so she was practically basking in her minor achievement. 

It was probably what Dagon needed. The event that had taken place a few moments earlier*, which Dagon did not care to think about at the moment, had left her frazzled, to say the least. She told Beelzebub she was going for a walk, and ze let her go alone. Dagon needed to be reminded that she was a demon who was pleased by others displeasure, and that the emotions she was feeling were brought on only by the Earth. Her walk didn’t work completely, but this was helping well enough.

“Surprised to see me?” Dagon put her hands on her hips and licked her teeth. Uriel sighed, which came out as a disapproving hum, exactly the way they had intended for it to. 

“No, just disappointed,” Uriel circled around their counter, then stood roughly two feet away from Dagon, arms crossed. “What do you want?”

“I’ve been thinking,” Dagon began, and Uriel interjected.

“Wow, that’s a bit out of character for you, isn’t it?” The remark only made Dagon smile. She was enjoying this, the cheeky bastard. 

“There’s no reason we can’t act civilized towards one another,” Dagon continued, but Uriel shot at her again.

“I’m impressed, I didn’t think you knew the word civilized,” When Dagon paused for a moment, Uriel kept talking. “Why are you really here?”

“I was passing by and happened to feel an overwhelming amount of loneliness and regret radiating from your store, so I decided to drop in,” Dagon smiled again, but it was a tight, toothless smile. She was practically telling Uriel they were pathetic with the way she was glaring at her. “I didn’t expect it to be you, honestly. I thought it might be some human you felt sorry for that you let bumble around the store after hours because they were sad about something. Didn’t expect it to be you.”

It was quiet. The silver eyes* and the golden eyes* bore into each other. The two of them were clearly struggling with their own dilemma, separate from each other. The former friends seemed to realize this at the same time, and their stares became less invasive.

“We’ll stay out of each other’s way,” Uriel was the first to speak. “Well be civilized in the event that we do run into one another. We can go back to hating one another when the war finally begins.”

“Good,” Dagon’s arms fell behind her back, and for a moment the atmosphere around them didn’t seem as fiery and tense as it had before. It was like someone breathed a breath of cool air into the room, a much needed relief from the sweltering feeling that came from being in the same vicinity as one another. Dagon went to open her mouth again, but she instead lowered her head and reluctantly snapped her fingers. Uriel turned quickly to look behind them. They had felt something, like the atmosphere had been disturbed by the sudden appearance of an object. 

Uriel looked at what had appeared, puzzled. A tank was now on their counter. Inside, Uriel caught a glimpse of a white fish, it’s fins floating freely in the current of the tank’s filter, before it ducked quickly into a bunch of aquatic plants. Uriel turned to look at Dagon. She wasn’t there anymore, Uriel knew that before they had turned around. 

“What in heaven?” A note had been left by the tank. ‘A symbol of our truce. Take good care of it, and I mean that as a threat.’ Uriel repeated themselves again. The fish had poked it’s face out of it’s tiny, underwater forest. Uriel recognized it almost immediately, and they slammed their hands onto the counter. It caused the fish to jerk back in brief alarm. Dagon must have known what she was doing by giving Uriel a fish, especially THAT fish. Her favorite kind. Uriel knew that. Dagon knew that Uriel knew that. Dagon must have also known that her actions would have caused Uriel to be struck by the most vicious weight of guilt they had felt in a long time. Over six thousand years worth of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The event that had taken place a few moments earlier-The stuff from last chapter  
> *Silver eyes-Dagon  
> *Golden eyes-Uriel


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, look at me writing two chapters in a week! I’m surprised because this week has been wild. Actually, has it technically been a week? Idc it’s been less than seven days so I’m counting it. I’ve had a rough past couple of days, so excuse everything that I do. My brain decided to be nice and work for like an hour so I could write this. Yes, it took me an hour to write not that many words. I’m very sorry. Anyways, here it is. Also, should I start saying what the next chapter’s gonna be about? Eh, I’ll give you guys a hint in the end notes.

No light. No warmth. No color. The rebellion had been fought, and it was over. Heaven’s insurgents had lost, and they were all packed into a small, frigid space that was daubed in an indescribable color. Ahead was an open gate, which flickered between the silver and gold as white flames licked it’s edges. It was a gate to their new Heaven, a place of order and impartiality, at least they hoped so.

Also, their wings had been burned, and they were nothing but featherless appendages coated in slippery, charred flesh. If they tried to retract them, they would be overcome by a withering sensation that rivaled the one they felt when they had been torched originally. Damn those angels. They were the ones who had done it, shamelessly, by the order of their God. Dagon hadn’t seen which angel had done it to her, but someday she would get her revenge.*

Their names had all changed as well. They had been given new ones by their Lord, who was referred to now with several titles; Satan, the Devil, and the Lord of Darkness were among them. The to be fallen angels had also been given a new title; demons.

“Dagon,” A discordant voice whispered, and several pensile heads moved to the side as a figure passed by them. Two black eyes had were fixed on her, and a long-fingered hand grappled onto her shoulder.

“Duke Hastur,” Dagon did not know the name that the creature had previously, but she did recognize him as a particularly enthusiastic subversive. Well, that was the polite version of it. He always seemed eager to wield Hellfire, to press it against the skin of angels until they were seared into nothing. Dagon did not care for him.

“Lord Beelzebub would like to speak with you,” He croaked, and released some sort of hissing sound from deep in his throat. It’s as if speaking was painful for him. The devilish Duke motion for Dagon to follow him, and they pushed against the spiritless crowd with ease. He pointed once they had arrived to an area where the mob had diffused. Beelzebub had been standing behind the crowd, and everyone stood a good distance away from zir. Lucifer was shockingly nowhere in sight, Beelzebub had been stuck to his side for a majority of the rebellion. It was almost strange seeing zir alone.

“Ah,” The freshly named Lord nearly smiled. In fact, it seemed like ze tried very hard to, but something else tried even harder to keep them from it. Zir voice was dull, and zir eyes looked like they had sunken. The sharp, near-white crystals that were suspended in the whites of zir eyes were outlined by gray, puffy skin. Then there was... well, it turned out that angels had a dangerous weapon of their own to use against the rebels. Holy water. The wounds on Beelzebub’s face still look fresh, and there were more beneath zir clothes.* “I had hoped to... speak... with you.”

Dagon nodded, something about seeing Beelzebub had taken her voice away. Ze was practically the shedded skin of zir former self. It was unsettling, yet intriguing, and the fact that it interested Dagon unsettled her even more. Beelzebub folded zir hands, then seemed to wait, but nothing happened.

“Odd,” Beelzebub said carefully. “We haven’t had the opportunity to talk for awhile. I’ve been wanting to, and yet I don’t feel like... there is... a lot to... say.” 

The Prince made a sound when they delivered the final word, almost like a fizzling hum. Ze put the tips of their fingers in front of zir mouth and cleared zir throat. Dagon nodded again.

“Where is our leader?” Dagon asked, just to have something to talk about. She had remembered at some point during their conversation that he had been the first to leave Heaven, and Beelzebub told her as much, speaking as if ze were worried ze would cause the crowd to riot. “I see, why haven’t you gone?”

Many demons were eager to get through the gate, wherever it lead. Dagon assumed Beelzebub would have been one of the first ones through.

“I wanted to zsee-“ Beelzebub briefly closed zir eyes and bit the inside of zir lips. “You.”

“Are you alright?” Dagon dared to ask. Beelzebub’s nostrils flared and zir shoulders rose as ze huffed.

“Fliezzzs,” Ze droned. Dagon then noticed dozens of flies flicker from Beelzebub’s hair, robes, and the singed area of zir wings. They had blended in with the dark colors. “And this maddening buzzing zzzsound. Part of my punishment.”

Ze managed a wry smile, then zir wings twitched and ze winced. Then zir face fell completely. The flies circled zir, apparently just as eager as the others to get past the gate. Or maybe they were buzzing about in a frantic manner because Beelzebub’s obviously unstable mood had begun to worry them. Dagon had no idea how to read the emotions of flies, but either way, something had stirred them up. Beelzebub snapped quickly back to an expressionless state, and Dagon pretended not to notice ze had left it in the first place.

“Damn them,” The way Beelzebub hissed the words ze said made it so ze didn’t have to clarify that ze was talking about the angels. Ze was shivering every so slightly, and there was a low buzz that accompanied it, spiking in volume whenever Beelzebub’s shoulders jerked.

“I think they’re damning us, actually,” Dagon said dryly. She didn’t really except the response she received. Beelzebub laughed, it was more so a release of all zir emotions. It was a genuine as ze could muster, though, and it lasted for all of two seconds before the flicker of innocence dimmed back into solemness.

“I suppose they are,” Beelzebub wore a wry smile, one that didn’t much up with zir eyes. Dagon didn’t think she’d get used to them. They were as empty and lifeless as the infinite, ashen color surrounding them. Dagon found herself shuddering if she looked into them for too long, and yet she was transfixed. Dagon licked her teeth, and flinched at the sudden prick she felt. She cursed herself, not that it would do much damage now, for forgetting how sharp her teeth were. Beelzebub seemed to notice them for the first time.* “That’s new.”

“Yeah,” Dagon wiped her mouth, although no blood had dripped from her mouth. She had changed, too. She hadn’t actually seen herself, but she knew that she was not how she used to be. Maybe she was better off that way. “Not sure how I feel about them.”

“They look good,” Beelzebub turned zir head to the right, and Dagon turned to meet zir gaze. They had both been looking at the gate-well, it’s where the gate was, but there were quite a few demons in the way-straight ahead, and when they had looked at each other, the other was always looking in a different direction. Then, like a quick flicker of light cast from a fire, something changed in Beelzebub’s eyes. Whatever it was, it made Dagon’s skin crawl, but in a strangely pleasant sort of way.

“Thank you,” Dagon didn’t actually say anything. Her lips had moved, but the words were lodged in her throat. 

“Thingzzzs,” Beelzebub have a quick sigh before continuing what ze was saying. “Will be better.”

Dagon nodded. It sounded like Beelzebub needed to hear those words most of all. Was there a slim chance that Beelzebub, the right hand of the leader of the rebellion, was having second thoughts? Perhaps it was this place’s heavenly influences, or maybe God was channeling guilt into the room. More than likely, though, Beelzebub was just tired. Being set in fire can really burn someone out. Maybe Beelzebub just wanted reassurance that everything that happened would not be in vain.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Dagon asked. The crowd was thinning, but there were still a few thousand demons waiting their turn. 

“Nothing, I suppozzzse,” Beelzebub clenched zir teeth together and took an unnecessary breath, then all of zir tension disappeared. “Would you like to go together?”

“Lead the way,” Dagon looked fondly down at the other demon. “And I will follow you.” 

The flickering happened again, like a flame burning as bright as it could before it finally disappears against a blackened wick. There was something in Beelzebub’s eyes other than nothingness, but it never stayed around long enough for Dagon to identify it. Perhaps, over the course of however long, Dagon would discover it. Beelzebub walked towards the gate, the crowd parting like an miracle that had not yet been performed, and Dagon followed behind, just as she had promised. They were approaching the world where they would have all they wanted, and where all of their questions would be answered. That was a good thing, because Dagon has more questions now than ever, burning like a fire inside of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The wounds on Beelzebub’s face still look fresh, and there were more beneath zir clothes-Angels don’t like using holy water unless absolutely necessary, but being the right hand of Lucifer meant Beelzebub was often exposed to it. I don’t think holy water kills demons instantly, and I don’t think hellfire kills angels instantly, I think it’s just a very corrosive thing that burns them.
> 
> *”And this maddening buzzing zzzsound. Part of my punishment.”-I don’t think that the filth and stuff that the demons live in is desirable to all of them. Most of them are used to it, and some of them even like it, but demons mainly only tolerate it just to spite Heaven.
> 
> *Beelzebub seemed to notice them for the first time-Beelzebub notices them. Beelzebub likes them.
> 
> Remember the wings. Demon’s wings still hurt them pretty frequently, but grooming them does help. They feel lighter and like less of a burden, and it’s a reason to stretch them out every so often. Keeping your wings retracted for too long doesn’t feel very good.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, should this fanfic be tagged as slow burn? I’m not sure what qualifies as a slow burn, but I feel weird if I don’t establish a relationship beforehand. What do you guys think?  
> Also, one chapter away from being halfway there! I’m making pretty good progress. Sorry if anything is written weird, I have a headache and don’t trust my writing ability at the moment, but I wanted to publish another chapter for you guys. Thank you to everyone who’s been supporting this fanfic so far. You guys mean a lot to me! Also, there are now twenty five fanfictions that include Fileflies on AO3! I think that’s a milestone for Fileflies shippers. I hope this ship continues to grow, because it’s a quality ship.

Dagon had been wandering aimlessly around for a few hours, her hands fidgeting as she walked in large strides. Dagon was used to having a lot on her mind, she had once been in charge of 6000 years worth of records, after all. Hastur kept them now, a thought that hadn’t really occurred to her. There was no way he was doing a good job of it, though, but someone trustworthy had to be in charge of secretly managing Hell’s paperwork while Dagon and Beelzebub were away. Well, Hastur wasn’t trustworthy, exactly. He was loyal to Lucifer and Beelzebub, though, and did as he was told. 

Dagon had briefly forgotten her earlier worries, but of course she had reminded herself of them all over again. Had she really been repressing affection for zir all these years? It was concerning. Demons were allowed to feel lust, not love. That was an angel thing. 

If Beelzebub really was interested in Dagon, it could put zir in danger. But that was only if anyone figured out about it. There were no other demons on Earth, and it would be difficult to prove it was love. A demon of high status keeping a lesser demon around for their entertainment was hardly a new concept, and no one really cared. But Dagon was getting ahead of herself. Beelzebub might not have feelings for her. All ze said was ze was interested in a human expression of affection.

That was all.

For Satan’s sake everything was so confusing.*

Did humans really deal with this kind of stuff on a regular basis? Dagon sighed, clenching her jaw and managing to think about nothing for about three seconds. Was it a good idea to go back to the apartment? It might be awkward going back too early, but if Dagon returned late Beelzebub might worry. Would Beelzebub worry? Oh, for Satan’s sake.

Dagon wanted desperately to bash her own head against one of the lamp posts she was passing by. Every time Beelzebub crosses her mind, she was hit with a unholy mixture of emotions. Or maybe they were holy, that would explain why she felt so... weird.

Perhaps it would be best to go back. The thought of it made her feel uneasy, but she still had a duty. Beelzebub could still be in danger, after all. The thought of that made her even more uneasy. It wasn’t like Beelzebub was incapable of defending zirself, but Dagon still worried.

The walk to the flat was long enough to be excruciating, but short enough for Dagon to be unprepared to go inside. She was outside the door, waiting, the sound of radio static muffled through the door. She didn’t know what she was waiting for, maybe for some sort of intervention, divine or demonic. No such intervention arrived, but Dagon did open the door, the static pouring violently from the doorway as she did.

Beelzebub was laying on zir back, wings spread out and shedding black feathers onto floor. Ze was looking up at the ceiling, almost like ze was focusing on something. Dagon closed the door without a sound, then stood still.

“Hello,” Beelzebub greeted, the radio’s volume faded until it was completely silent.

“Hello,” Dagon replied, almost commenting on the radio. She was glad Beelzebub was using it, but it made her throat tighten, and the one word she had managed to say was difficult. 

Beelzebub sat up, knocking even more feathers to the floor as ze did so. Dagon couldn’t tell if ze had been preening zirself, or if she was plucking feather from zir wings from stress.

“I apologizzze if I upzzzset you,” Beelzebub waved a hand over the floor, and the feathers disappeared.

“Oh, no, you haven’t,” Dagon wasn’t entirely sure if she was telling the truth. Regardless, Beelzebub tilted zir head and looked at her.

“No?” Ze asked. Dagon looked into zir eyes as ze spoke. There was something different about them, but Dagon was having trouble detecting what it was. “I’m not zzzsure I believe that, I don’t think you’d have left if I hadn’t.”

“Just had to... think. For awhile,” Dagon swore that she felt her knees shaking. She sank to them to ensure that she wouldn’t collapse first.

“I zzzsee,” Beelzebub’s stare was palpable, and zir eyes were restlessly examining the other demon. Dagon felt her skin crawling. Was this how papers felt when you read them? “Did you arrive at any sort of concluzzzsion?”

Beelzebub bent zir knee, then rested zir hand and chin on it, wings fluttering slightly. Dagon had no idea what the Hell was going on. So much was happening, and all of it was different. She had no idea how to process any of it.

“I like nighttime better than the daytime?” Dagon had come up with an answer. It was the truth, your it made Beelzebub raise an eyebrow.

“Really?” There was a faint smile on Beelzebub’s lips.* Zir eyes had stopped moving, but they were still burning into Dagon. “I like the night better as well. Anything elzzzse?”

“No.” Dagon answered quickly. Beelzebub chuckled slight, soft and almost drowned out by the sound of zir wings folding and disappearing.

“You haven’t preened at all since we’ve been here, have you?” She had not. A demon’s wings were quite sensitive, although they would never admit it outright. Going a long time without preening them could make them feel heavy, which could be painful when combined with the fact that their wings were always aching—damn whatever angels burned them. It was also a good idea to let them out once in awhile. Dagon shook her head. “You zzzshould.”

Dagon said nothing, as she wasn’t really sure what to say. Beelzebub must have mistaken it for reluctance.

“Or I can do it for you,” Zir offered made Dagon go rigid, and her posture obviously changed. It made Beelzebub’s smile a little bit wider. “Or not.”

“I...” Dagon was unable to string any words together, she could only manage the one letter. Angels did preen one another, in Heaven. It was an act of courtship. Dagon had remembered that. She suddenly had a thousand questions for herself, which she had no answer to.

“I’ve upzzzset you again,” Beelzebub droned, all traces of a smile fading from zir face.

“You haven’t upset me,” Dagon was upset, but not by the offer. She was upset by the feeling. If humans really dealt with this regularly, then she had a newfound respect for them. Beelzebub was not convinced by Dagon’s words, however. Zir eyes returned to a familiar state, and ze stood.

“Earth izzzs definitely a zzzstrange place,” Beelzebub droned disappointedly. “I feel azzzs though... it createzzzs too many emotions. I’m not zzzsure what it is.”

“I feel it, too,” Dagon agreed. “I... I really am not upset with you. I think I’m just surprised.”

“By?” Beelzebub was being a bastard, ze knew exactly what was surprising Dagon, but ze wanted to hear it anyway. Ze also knew ze was being a bastard.

“By everything you been saying, and...” Dagon paused. “Suggesting.”

Beelzebub sat down again, cross-legged this time and closer to Dagon. 

“It’s zzzsurprsing to me that I’ve zzzsuggested them,” The look in zir eyes had returned. Dagon sighed heavily, then allowed her wings to open.

“Go ahead, then,” She would have been shaking again, if she was standing. Beelzebub looked at zir, zir smile returning before ze moved behind her. 

The prince of Hell was surprisingly gentle. No one would have expected that, not even Dagon. Seraphiel was gentle, but Beelzebub and Seraphiel were very different from one another. Beelzebub was going about zir business, adjusting and removing feathers in a way that Dagon could barely feel zir touch, humming* as ze did. Something about it shook Dagon, it maybe it was the act itself. What prince with concern themselves with something like this?

Dagon bit her lip, barely noticing the prick and swift flow of blood running down her chin. Damn all these emotions. She wiped a hand across her face, a tightness growing in her chest. The last thing she wanted to do was humiliate herself, but she hadn’t yet learned to control her emotions. Without wanting to, she expelled a single, sudden sob that had risen into her throat. Beelzebub noticed, it had shaken her entire body, which made Dagon rest her face against the back of one of her hands.

“What’zzzs wrong?” Beelzebub hands had fallen onto zir legs. Demons did not cry. 

“Only on Earth,” Dagon whispered, contradicting her own thought. “It’s humiliating.”

“I don’t think zzzso,” Beelzebub had moved in front of Dagon at some point while she wasn’t looking. “I think Earth has an effect zzzsome sort, one that can’t be controlled.”

“Perhaps that is why the demon Crowley did what he did,” Dagon’s voice was barely audible, and yet Beelzebub heard her. Ze made a face of disgust at then sound of Crowley’s name, then groaned with displeasure. Dagon couldn’t help but laugh. In all her years of existing, no one could pull a repulsed expression like Beelzebub.*

“I think you might be right,” Beelzebub sighed. “Oh, Satan, it makes zzzsense now. That angel is his...”

Beelzebub gestured with one hand—not one that really related to what ze meant to say, but Dagon understood—then groaned again. Dagon laughed again, which prompted another sigh from Beelzebub, who leaned against zir arm that was prompted on zir leg. Zir eyes were doing the thing again, there was something behind them. An emotion of some sort? Dagon watched them for awhile, and then made a decision. It was one that she had been thinking about for awhile now.

“Do you still want to kiss?” Dagon asked breathlessly. Beelzebub raised zir eyebrows. It was zir turned to be surprised, but ze composed zirself almost immediately.

“I have no idea how it workzzzs,” Beelzebub confessed, a softness to zir voice. “But...”

Beelzebub cut zirself off, putting one hand on Dagon’s shoulder and the other under her chin. Beelzebub pulled her close rather swiftly, pressing their lips together.* It was strange, but pleasant at the same time. The closeness and the intention behind it was... probably blissful? At least, in a human sense it was. Beelzebub pulled away, and Dagon felt numb. She was sure what had happened or what was supposed to happen, but it was something.

“I think that’s how you do it,” Beelzebub finished zir sentence as though there had been no break in it. Dagon’s eyes were wide, and she wasn’t sure to say.

“I wouldn’t know,” She finally responded, her voice unable to find the pitch it wanted to be. 

“Well, if not,” Beelzebub smiled in a way that Dagon hadn’t seen zir smile in a very long time. It was mischievous, but good. That was the best way Dagon could describe it. “We can always practice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *For Satan’s sake everything was so confusing-Bitch is pining. (Dagon is bitch. I am also bitch, but that’s not related to this.)
> 
> *There was a faint smile on Beelzebub’s lips-I’ll explain Beelzebub’s emotions since it’s mostly from Dagon’s perspective. Ze’s always thought that Dagon was endearing, and seeing Dagon flustered warms Beelzebub’s little demon heart. The feelings Beelzebub has for Dagon are somewhat recent, maybe a few hundred years recent. Now that Beelzebub finally has the opportunity, ze’s shamelessly hitting on her. Beelzebub is definitely more smooth than Dagon is when it comes to flirting, though, and Dagon has no idea how to handle it.
> 
> *No one could pull a repulsed expression like Beelzebub-For reference, look at Beelzebub’s face when Michael is pouring the holy water into the tub in the TV show. It is priceless
> 
> *Beelzebub pulled her close rather swiftly, pressing their lips together-Their kiss is about as experienced as you’d expect two 6000 year old demons who have never kissed before to be. Think two thirteen year olds who are dating and haven’t done anything more than hold hands with each other. It’s awkward.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! We’re halfway there, guys. Only fifteen more chapters to go. I’m shocked I’ve made it this far. Also, we’re at 500 reads! I’m pretty surprised, I didn’t think I’d get very many since Fileflies isn’t very popular. (Which is really weird to me.)   
> I just wanted to thank everyone who’s been reading so far! Especially StarlightPhoenix, who comments on nearly all of my chapters and always has something really nice to say!   
> And to my friends irl who promised to read this, thank you, too. That is, if they actually are reading my fanfic. If not, shame on them for lying.  
> Anyways, the chapter itself isn’t a major plot point or anything (that was reserved for the last chapter) but I still feel like a milestone has been reached. Thank you all again for reading!

Chapter 15

It makes sense that the end of the world involves a lot of paperwork. A lot of things happen when the world ends, so Heaven needs to keep records of it. That makes sense. But the world hasn’t ended, and the amount of paperwork somehow increased. The biggest challenge for Heaven was moving forward. What are you supposed to do after that? God only knows, and she isn’t being very cooperative at the moment.

Anyways, sitting at a desk for a countless amount of time can get rather tiresome, even for an angel. Michael never did get excited about meetings or anything, but when Gabriel told them that he had scheduled one, they were grateful to finally get the opportunity to stand for awhile and let their hands stay still. 

But the meeting had only stressed them out even more. Gabriel had announced, quite casually, that any investigation into the activities of Crowley and Aziraphale would be postponed. Heaven had planned to cooperate with Hell by relating any information about the traitors. But apparently, Gabriel had set up backing channels of his own, and there was a talk of revolution in Hell. 

Michael had excused themselves from the conference room, and made their way to one of the many glass walls. They observed all the monuments that mankind had built, then sighed. 

“What is wrong with me?” Michael’s lips moved, forming words with a hiss of a frustrated breath. Something about hearing that there would be a revolution in Hell made their heart sink. Beelzebub was the prince of Hell. Would that mean ze would be overthrown? Michael wasn’t sure why they cared. They should’ve been fighting a war with zir right now, so why did they care at all about the way it was run? 

‘It has nothing to do with the way Hell is run.’ That’s what part of them told themselves. Perhaps they did care about the wellbeing of a few demons. They had once been friends of Michael’s after all, but they weren’t any longer. They were different creatures entirely. But even if that was the case, why did Michael suddenly start caring? Maybe it was a question that had popped into their head awhile back.

Was there a slim chance that any of the fallen angels could be redeemed? The other day, the war was definite, Hellfire killed angels, and Holy Water killed demons. If Beelzebub—or any demon—was dead, then there was no chance of them being forgiven. 

But that was a ridiculous. God would not cast angels out unless they were meant to be cast out. Perhaps Michael had been working too hard.

“Michael?” Gabriel had silently approached the other angel without them noticing.

“Hello,” Michael gave a half-hearted smile, but they barely turned away from the window. “I’m sorry, I just needed a moment...”

“I know,” Gabriel was undoubtedly nodding. “You’ve been working hard, Michael. You’ve certainly been doing a praiseworthy amount of work.”

“Thank you,” Michael continued staring, their gratitude obviously absent. They blinked a few times, realizing they were probably being rude, and repeated themselves with more sincerity. “I mean, thank you! I really do appreciate that. I’ve just got my head in the clouds, I guess. Or, I guess it would be, ‘above the clouds.’”

“That’s was good,” Gabriel smiled brightly and clasped his hands together. Gabriel’s admiration for lame jokes was very sweet, and it was good to see him back to his normal self. When Armageddon had failed, he had been a little bit on edge. “But I do think that it is in everyone’s best interest if you do your work with a clear head. Is there anything I can do to help with that?”

“I don’t know,” Michael turned back to the window, and then it hit them. “Actually... do you think I could go to Earth for few days?”

“Earth?” Gabriel visibly recoiled. “Why would you want to go there?”

“Well, Uriel could probably use the company,” An understatement. Uriel would most definitely enjoy Michael’s company. “Besides, there isn’t really anywhere else to go.”

“Well, I certainly see where you’re coming from. I’ll see what I can do,” Gabriel had immediately become his usual, cheery self again. At least there was that. 

“Thank you,” Michael said, much more genuine than they had said a moment ago. 

“Well, we should probably head back,” Gabriel suggested, but Michael was facing the window again.

“Just one more minute,” They said, their voice immediately becoming distant. “I’ll be there in a moment.”

Gabriel gave a thumbs up, which Michael caught in the reflection of the window, and went on his way. Michael really wished they had longer than a minute. They had a lot of things to take into consideration. Was there anything they could do about the rumored rebellion in Hell, or would it be wiser to stay out of it. Michael did not have an answer as of now. Perhaps they could round about it with Uriel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t have notes for this chapter. The next chapter is going to focus on how the angels handled the fall. (Also, this may be too late to say, but if you want to know about any events in particular or just want to see more of something, please let me know! I’ll try to incorporate them in the fanfiction if possible!)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, it’s been a bit, hasn’t it? Sorry, it is school time and that’s pretty exhausting. Also, I’ve been playing Fire Emblem Three Houses to distract myself from my responsibilities (and also I just need to relax after school because stress mixed with anxiety doesn’t not make for a tasty juice) because I’m tired and that game plays with my emotions, but I sometimes need something to make me feel emotions. Fire Emblem is pretty good at making interesting characters that I can get invested in and also tearing out my heart and eating it. While I’m salty about the lack of LGBTQ+ romance options, Fire Emblem (Fates) is the only game that had made me cry to this day. So, it’s pretty good.   
> I also got guinea pigs! They’re very cute, and it’s good to have some again.   
> So yeah, sorry for taking a bit to update. Here it is, though! (But it’s kinds short. Aren’t they all though?)

Michael sat on one of the garden’s benches, trembling. Their head was in their hands, and they would only remove them when they stopped to rub their temples. They ensured their eyes were shut, though. Right now they didn’t want to see anything. They just wanted to fade away for a moment.

If they had not spiraled into such a state of grief, Michael might have noticed that the garden was completely silent. The birds had gone off somewhere around the start of the war, which was a wise decision on their part. It was also fortunate for Michael, the cheerful sounds of birds chirruping on a branch somewhere might have upset them more.

To actively harm something with a soul... it made Michael feel awful. Their throat tightened and their spine shuddered at the thought. They couldn’t believe the things they had done. 

“Michael?” A gentle voice caught Michael’s attention. It came from somewhere in the garden. Michael did not answer, the owner of the voice found them eventually. Well, there were three angels. Uriel, Gabriel, and Sandalphon—who was not an Archangel, but Gabriel enjoyed his company very much.

Gabriel sat on the bench next to Michael, unnaturally solemn, while Sandalphon stood next to him and Uriel sat on the ground. No one talked for awhile, they all just sat, each of them ingesting all that had happened. None of them had time to think when the war was going on, they were wishing too desperately for it to be over. Now it was, and they were still just as desperate, but the object of their desperation had changed.

The angels caught glimpses of one another. All of them had scars from whatever flaming weapons were used against them. No one asked for the stories behind them, and no one would, but one memory was permanently etched into Michael’s mind. 

With intentions of incapacitating the rebels rather than killing them, angels were equipped with aspergillum.* Still, the reverberating screams of agony still resonated within the ichor of the angels, chilling them. One in particular haunted Michael. It was the aching scream of an angel that used to be their friend—Seraphiel—after Michael had flicked holy water into zir face. 

Ze had crumpled to the ground, their body shook by heavy breaths, partially caused by pain, partially caused by frustration. Michael was on the ground not long after, they had been pushed to it by a force they hadn’t seen coming. Now that force was looming over them, strands of unkempt hair partially covering their face. The person raised a dagger, holding it there for a moment as if they expected a retaliation, but Michael did not move. The dagger was red, they noticed, and glowing. They assumed that might be their last observation.

But then the smooth part of the dagger pressed against the right side of her face, just below her eye. Michael gasped, but did nothing more. The figure stood, tossing the hair from their face. Michael recognized them—Dagiel—a friend of Uriel and Seraphiel. Michael did not see either demon flee, but when they sat up again, both of them were gone.

“Well,” Gabriel was the first to speak, but he had taken a long pause before continuing. It was so long that it had the others wondering if Gabriel had even spoken in the first place. “At least it’s over.”

“It should never have happened,” Uriel’s voice was soft, but angry. They stared at the ground, as if they had been speaking to it instead of the others.

“You’re right,” Gabriel agreed, his tone more dull than upset. “But we can fix it.”

“How?” The Archangel on the ground have a nearly inaudible whine as their head jerked to the side to face the others. The three of them were taken aback, and Uriel lowered their head shamefully.

“We can have our memories of them erased,” Gabriel answered, his voice much gentler now. Uriel didn’t move this time, but Michael did. They snapped their head to look at Gabriel, who did not notice their sudden movement. “Our scars can be... mended, in a way.”

“What do you mean?” Michael asked. Gabriel smiled, but it was unclear why. 

“We have the option to get our memories erased, if we so choose. All memories of... the others,” The way Gabriel explained it was so... empty. Like he didn’t care very much, or that he was pretending not to. He, like all of the angels, appeared solemn, but Michael had never thought about the reason’s others had for their somber attitude. Was it for the dead and fallen? Or was it for the fact that their way of living had been challenged? Michael then beat those considerations back to wherever they stemmed from. “And we can conceal our scars with gold. That’s what many angels are doing.”

“How does the memory erasing process work, exactly?” Uriel asked gingerly, now plucking at blades of grass that would promptly reroot themselves when they were removed from the dirt.

“You just... forget,” Gabriel said with a shrug and a forced breath from his nostrils. “Like a miracle. If you have any memories of an angel that fell, you just forget them. The only thing you’ll remember is that there was a war, and we won.”

Michael and Uriel both sat, considering the thought of losing those other thoughts. Sandalphon simply watched Gabriel, as their answers would be the same regardless.*

“No,” Michael answered stiffly. “I’d like to keep my memories.”

“As would I,” Uriel mumbled and grabbed a handful of grass, then watched it stretch into the dirt and bury itself, part of the blade still pointed upwards.

“And your scars?” Gabriel seemed a little confused, but that was not out of the ordinary.

“I’ll think about it,” Michael said, and Uriel grunted in agreement. Gabriel smiled a bit wider, raising his eyebrows, then mouthed the word ‘ok.’ He got to his feet, sand Sandalphon was close behind. The two left, walking with less than a foot from each other.

Once they had gone, Uriel made a very soft sound. It was like breathing, but harsher and quicker. It would have been masked by the natural sounds of the garden, if there had been any, but there weren’t any. Michael had heard them. Uriel, the Archangel, was sitting in the most magnificently beautiful place that would ever exist—and they were weeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *aspergillum-one of those things priests use to sprinkle holy water.
> 
> *their answers would be the same regardless-Obviously they would have their memories erased. Who would want to keep the good memories you shared with a person that you now hated?
> 
> *Gabriel seemed a little confused, but that was not out of the ordinary-Face it, he’s a himbo. Although I don’t think there’s anyone out there who disagrees with me on this? Then Sandalphon is out here like, “I guess that makes me morosexual.” Yes, they love each other. No, I don’t take constructive criticism on this matter.

**Author's Note:**

> *ze/zir/zirself-These are a type of pronouns that Neil Gaiman said Beelzebub would use, so they’re the ones I am using for them.  
> *Hamartia-A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. I looked up “fatal flaw” because I wanted to see if there were any other words for it, and this was what came up. My phone doesn’t recognize it as a word, but that’s okay  
> *Seraphiel and Dagiel-Tumblr user hexglyphs (not me) made this post https://hexglyphs.tumblr.com/post/185960297173/youre-the-expert-on-all-things-angel-yes-which where they explain what angels they think Beelzebub/Dagon were before they fell. They gave two possibilities for Beelzebub, but I believe ze was Seraphiel before ze fell.  
> *It’s hardly worth mentioning-It’s worth mentioning  
> *Gesticulate-I’m pretty sure you guys figured this out/already know, but just in case you don’t, it means someone gestures a lot when they talk. I noticed them gesturing more than other characters in the show, and Dagon reminds me of a certain henchman I played in a certain Disney musical that takes place underwater that my school did a production of (I wore a similar outfit, put my hands on my hips like she does, I even had scaly makeup.) I happened to gesture a lot as that character, so I decided to give that trait to Dagon


End file.
